Choices
by SylviaW1991
Summary: Ch 3 :Knouge: After years on an assignment, Rouge returns bearing emotional scars and a stalker. Can Knuckles protect her? lemon ShadOC coming soon!
1. Serendipity

_**Disclaimer: **_Tails, Cream, Sonic, Shadow, Amy, Vector, Vanilla, Knuckles, Rouge, and Eggman do not belong to me!

Everyone else in this story DOES!

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

X3

* * *

_**A/N:**_

Okay, this may look familiar to some, but to others it's brand new!

lol

I used to have this posted, but I took it down cuz it was taking me too long to write up the other three parts…

But now I've finished!

First up is the Crails!

Second will be a SonAmy!

Third is a Knuxouge!

And fourth I've got a ShadOC!

All four of them are hentai fics, so if you don't like that, don't read!

:p

* * *

_**Serendipity**_

"I didn't mean to!" he shouted, flailing his arms, fear etched onto his face. He looked at everyone, the people he had called his friends for years. None of them would meet his eyes.

No one but Sonic, his hero, his best friend ever. "Then what did you mean to do?"

Knuckles punched his fists together with a loud _smack!_ "I don't care what he was _tryin'_ to do! He damn near got us killed with all that!"

"It's not like you've never made a mistake, Knucklehead!"

The Echidna took a threatening step forward. "Nothing on _this_ level, though!"

"Let the fox tell his side of the story, then," Shadow muttered, glaring at Tails.

Sonic's eyes cleared a little, hopeful that his friend would be able to defend himself. "Yeah, pal, tell us why you did that," he encouraged.

"I…" He swallowed, knowing that none of them would like his answer. He took a small step back, than prepared his tails for flight. "I can't," he whispered.

Sonic stared at him, shock showing clearly in his emerald eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Shadow scoffed and took a battle stance. "Can't tell us because he knows we'd kill him!"

Tails shook his head. "No! It's not like that! You guys just don't understand!" He took more steps back as Shadow advanced on him.

Knuckles took another menacing step forward now. "Then tell us so we will."

He looked from Shadow to Knuckles, panicking. A bead of sweat trailed down his face, his eyes widened. Sonic ran in between Tails and the other two. "When has Tails NOT had a good reason for doing something, you guys? He had his reasons, we all know it. He doesn't have to tell us if--"

"You'll stick up for little miss perfect, won't ya? But every time I screw up it's 'What'd you do this time, Knucklehead?' 'How could you have been so stupid?' 'Why'd you do that, idiot?' I'm tired of that shit!"

Sonic shifted into his own battle stance. "Sounds like you're jealous of Tails, to me."

"Heh. Why would I be jealous of your little fuck buddy?" Knuckles sneered.

"My…" Sonic's eyes narrowed dangerously. "That's it! I've had it with you!" He glared back at Tails. "Get outta here. Now."

Not wasting any time, Tails flew away. His heart pounded painfully in his chest and when he looked back, he saw all three of them fighting. _I didn't mean to mess up like that…Now I can't even explain why I did it in the first place…_

_A few Years Later…_

Tails opened his eyes at the ringing of his phone. He groped blindly for it and lifted the receiver to his face. "Hello?"

"Tails? Is that you?"

The fox rubbed his face with his free hand and yawned. "Who's askin'?" he mumbled.

"I thought you'd at least recognize my voice," came the reply. "I finally managed to get your phone number, and you don't even know who I am," the girl whispered.

"Yeah? Then I guess you wasted your time, and mine. See ya."

"It's Cream, Tails." She spoke hastily, praying that he wouldn't hang up on her.

He did not. He could not. His hand froze on the phone and his mind went blank. The last time he had seen her he had been in a mad rush…

_Flashback…_

"Listen, Cream, I don't have a lot of time to explain, but I did something really stupid. I have to leave, okay?" He rested a hand on her cheek and offered her a small smile. "I'll try to come back, but who knows when that'll happen?"

She gripped his hand, tears streaming down her face. "I'll wait. I swear I will…"

He pressed his lips to her quickly. "Don't, Cream…Don't waste your life waiting for an idiot, okay?"

"_Creeeam_!" a voice, the voice of her step-father, Vector, shouted.

Tails' eyes darted towards the door as the knob began turning. He gave her a last look, and was gone.

_End Flashback…_

Tails was very quiet, but he was wide-awake now. Cream, unable to bear the silence any longer, spoke. "What have you been doing, Tails?"

The fox sighed, thinking over what he had been doing. "Building. Inventing." was his answer, though only partly true. Building his inventions cost money…It was how he got that money that he did not want to say because most – all right, all – of his odd-jobs were illegal.

Cream watched a tear hit the floor she was sitting on. "I know what you did," she whispered.

Once again, Tails went still. "Well, bully bully for you." His voice was harsh, making her flinch. He may not have been able to see it, but he knew she did. "I'm sorry, but…I don't want to talk about that."

"Okay…" She squeezed her eyes closed tightly. "I want to see you, Tails…Please tell me where you are."

There was a long pause, in which Tails let out a long breath. "Why don't we meet at my old workshop?" he asked. "The one at the Mystic Ruins."

Cream nodded her head enthusiastically, forgetting for a moment that he could not see her. "Okay, you mean now?"

Tails looked around his tiny, one-room apartment. "Can you get away right now?"

"Yes!" Her heart started pounding with excitement. It had been years since she had seen Tails. Finding his number had been an accident, and one that she was glad of. "See you soon?"

"Okay. See you soon…Cream." He hung up and just stared at the phone. He figured that he would have to leave immediately to get to that old place within the hour. He had not been that close to anyone since he had flown out of Cream's bedroom…

He quickly hopped out of the bed, tugged on his shoes and a many-pocketed brown vest before shooting out the window as fast as he could go.

Cream immediately ran down the stairs after hanging up, nearly tripping over her half-brother. "Sorry, Vipe!" she called.

"Where ya going?" the young crocodile yelled.

"Don't worry! I'll be back!" She opened the door and bolted out, flapping her ears for extra speed.

_Soon…_

Tails picked up his speed the second he saw his old workshop. He swallowed, almost afraid to be this close to where the others lived. _Just a train ride away, _he remembered. _Well, Knuckles lives on Angel Island, but that's not far off, either. But how do I know if he still does or not…? Damn…_

His worry-filled thoughts disappeared the moment he saw Cream though, sitting on a step, head in hands, smiling to herself. His heart sped up and something in him stirred, kindled to life. "Cream…" he murmured.

She glanced up at him and her smile fully bloomed, making his pulse scramble. She stood and studied the fox. _He looks the same,_ she realized, than noticed the nick on his left ear. _Or nearly the same._

He studied her in turn. The little triangle dress had been traded in for a more sophisticated, form-fitting dress that dropped to her knees. It was simple, enough so that it subtly clung to every curve. It made Tails' mouth go dry because she had certainly grown some curves.

She held out her hand to him, willing him to come closer. "Tails?"

He linked his hand with hers and brought it to his lips, making her giggle lightly. He tugged her closer, and she willingly slid into his arms. He leaned closer until their mouths were a breath apart. "Hi."

"Hello," she replied, smiling widely. She closed the distance smoothly and cruised her lips over his. The blood roared in her head, making her feel woozy, but his arms tightened, holding her steady. It was familiar, yet new, different. She brought her hands up to frame his face, allowing his tongue entrance.

His mind went blank, and then filled with her. Her taste, touch, the feel of her body against his. They fit, perfectly, just as he remembered. His hands stroked her back gently, as he allowed himself to feel what he had denied himself since leaving her.

When they finally broke apart, he rested his brow against hers lightly, tenderly, closing his eyes. "I missed you…" he admitted. "I wanted to call, but I was afraid that Vector or someone would answer and recognize my voice."

She slid closer to him, burying her head against his chest. "Sonic had your number in his address book."

He chuckled softly, content to remain like this with her forever. "You went snooping through Sonic's stuff?"

"No," she said, laughing. "He asked me to get the book for him because he was going to call someone. He was busy, so he asked me to find the name for him." She tipped her head back and laughed with her eyes. "I came across your name purely by accident."

"I'm glad you did, Cream, so glad." He smiled, his first real one since leaving her. "I still love you," he admitted.

Her eyes filled with tears. "It was worth the wait," she whispered. "It was worth it just to hear you say that."

He nodded and bent his head to kiss her again, deeper than before. "Then say it back," he murmured.

"I love you, Tails, so much."

He brushed a stray tear away with the pad of his thumb. "I feel like we're caught in a _Romeo & Juliet_ kind of thing," he told her. She nodded, sniffling, trying to hold back tears. "It's okay, Cream. You can cry."

She nodded again and pressed against him on a sob. "I don't even know why I'm crying! I'm just so happy that you're here, Tails, with me…"

"I can't stay though," he muttered. "You know that, right? Just because I made that stupid mistake…"

Cream took a deep breath, thinking. She took a step back and stared into the deep ocean that was his eyes. "Tails? I want…" Her heart was pounding fiercely, nerves dancing along her body. She bit her lip and pushed the vest from his shoulders.

His breath caught as the vest hit the ground. His body tensed, reacting to what he saw in her deep, brown eyes. "Cream…Are you sure you want to…?" He trailed off when she nodded. "Okay…You're still a…Aren't you?"

"I trust you not to hurt me, Tails." She moved closer and slid her hands up his chest to link behind his head. "I love you."

His eyes contracted when she kissed him again, and his entire body when on alert. He tried to find reasons why not to take her, but could not find them through his muddled brain. He pulled back and lifted the vest. He reached into one of the pockets and pulled out a key ring. "I still have the key to this place, Cream. But only if you're sure, okay?"

She closed her eyes and nodded after a moment, opening them again. "Make love to me, Tails, please."

He nodded and opened the door, pulling her in behind him. He re-locked it once they were inside. Nerves danced through him, than he looked at her. Seeing how nervous_ she_ was made his own fears fade away to be replaced with a tender feeling that he had not felt in years. He took her hand and led her into his old bedroom. Ignoring the dust everywhere, he lifted her and laid her gently on the bed.

"I don't know what to do," she murmured.

"That's okay," he whispered. "I do." He pressed his lips to hers when she began to speak again. "It's okay, Cream. I swear I won't hurt you." He nuzzled her neck when she shook her head. "Change your mind?"

"No, I'm just…Tails, I'm scared. I know you won't hurt me on purpose, but I'm so scared. I don't want to mess this up and ruin it for us."

"You won't, Cream. Follow your instincts, all right?" He stood and slipped off her shoes. He smiled when her eyes trailed down and widened when she saw him. "I suppose it's kind of obvious just how much I want you."

She let out a long breath, nodding. "You're just so…" She broke off when he skimmed a hand up her leg. "Tails!"

He inched the dress up slowly, making her wriggle. He stopped abruptly to pry his shoes off. He slid his hands under her and lifted her so he could pull the dress higher. He laid his lips on hers for a quick kiss. "You can still tell me to stop, Cream, but after this, it'll be nearly impossible for me to." He waited.

"Keep going." She smiled softly and he tugged the dress over her head.

He slid into the bed next to her and rubbed her back soothingly, calming her nerves. "Just go with your instincts, Cream. Trust yourself," he kissed her, "and me."

"Okay," she whispered, and reached her hand down to squeeze him lightly.

He groaned and she started to move her hand away, but he snagged it. "No, it's okay. I like it."

Eyes wide, still filled with nerves and uncertainty, she started stroking him. "Is that okay?"

He panted and smiled at her. "Yeah, it's good." Tails let out another groan when she squeezed him again, and his body tensed. "Oh yeah, that's good…" He kissed her, trying desperately to ignore her touch so he could keep control and not hurt her. When that didn't work, he shifted. She just found him again and stroked until he whimpered. "Cream, you're amazing," he whispered.

Tails reached behind her and flicked open the clasp of her bra. He drew the straps down her arms slowly, pausing to kiss her only when she trembled. Once freed, her small, perky breasts fit perfectly in his hands. He bent his head to one and teased the nipple with teeth and tongue until she was moaning, then he moved to the other to deliver the same torture. His hand snaked down to tease the little swatch of cotton that covered her.

She gasped and tensed against him. When he slipped a finger under the cotton to find her, wet and waiting, she cried out his name. Unable to resist, he tugged her panties down and pulled them over her feet. He slid up her body, only using his hands until he got to her center. He kissed her lower lips and had her body jerking. "Tails," she breathed. He teased her there until she slid over the first crest, her body going limp. There could not be more, she thought. But he showed her more until she was gripping the sheets tightly, bucking mindlessly.

He slid up her body slowly and set himself at her entrance. He stayed like that until her eyes, nearly black with passions and desires, opened and met his. "Ready?"

"Yes," she whispered, nodding. He moved inside her until she cried out, then he stilled. She bit her lip, but nodded, urging him to continue.

Instead, he pressed his lips against hers, kissing her deeply until she only felt that before sliding the rest of the way inside her. They stayed like that for a minute, locked together, before Tails started to move.

Cream's eyes flew open in shock, than closed as his movements became slower, easier. When he started going faster, Cream moved with him, following her instincts as he had told her. When she went over the next edge, she cried out and started moving faster.

Matching her beat for beat, Tails thrusted into her, deeper each time. He shouted her name when she came, then went with her.

_Soon…_

Tails shifted, making Cream mumble her argument. She did not want him to move. In fact, she, herself, never wanted to move again, but she opened her eyes when he stood. "Tails?"

He grinned over his shoulder at her, then walked into the bathroom. She stretched, perfectly content, when she heard the shower running. He came out a second later and reached for her. Lifting her easily, he grinned at her questioning look. "I figure we'll take a shower, then clean up some."

"Okay," she murmured, half asleep. The shower woke her up, though, and she did not feel very clean when she staggered out nearly an hour later. "I don't think I'll ever be able to take a shower again," she commented, earning herself a laugh from him.

"It's more like you'll never be able to take one again without thinking about me." He laid a hand on her cheek and kissed her softly. "I really do love you, Cream."

"I love you too."

He smiled. "Come on, we should wash these sheets."

Once they were done, Tails went into the living room to dig out his spare key. He handed it to Cream with a sigh. "Come back here in a few days, all right? I'll have left a message on the machine by then that'll tell you when I'll meet you next, okay?"

She pulled him against her and kissed him, hard. "Okay, but when exactly?"

"In two or three days, I promise. I'm not exactly sure when though…" He sighed and drew her back, keeping his hold on her hands. "Remember how earlier I said that this is like a _Romeo & Juliet_ thing?"

"Yes, I do. Why?"

"This line from it just came to me from it, and I think it fits what I'm feeling now." He smiled and dropped her hands. "'Parting is such sweet sorrow.' I'll see you soon, Cream, I promise." He slipped out the back and flew off.

She watched him until she couldn't see him at all. "Just don't wait so long this time," she whispered, holding the key against her heart.

_Two Days Later…_

Cream slipped into the workshop, smiling. She went straight for the phone, completely unaware that anyone was following her. She hit the play, delighted to see the flashing "1" that meant a message had been left. Tails voice played through.

"Hey, Cream. I should be able to see you in two days, all right? Well, from your perspective it would be one day…" There was an annoyed sigh. "If this is Monday, I'll see you Wednesday. If it's Tuesday, I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Don't know why I didn't just say that in the first place…Heh. I guess I'm just an absent-minded genius. See ya soon, Cream. Love you."

"You've seen him?!" someone shouted behind her.

Cream jumped and very nearly hit the ceiling. She spun around immediately upon re-landing and met familiar emerald eyes. "Oh my! You surprised me, Sonic."

The blue hedgehog shrugged. "Sorry, but you've seen Tails?"

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "If you're going to tell anyone, then no, I have not."

Sonic sighed. "I should tell Vector seeing how he's the reason I'm following you."

"What?"

"Oh yeah. He's all worried because you've been acting weird the past couple days, so he asked me to stalk you."

Her eyes reflected worry. "Please don't tell him I've seen Tails."

He stared at her for a long moment before nodding. "If you tell Tails something for me." Cream nodded enthusiastically, and Sonic muttered to himself about what could he say after this long. "Just tell him I know he had his reasons, and that Shadow and Knuckles have cooled down enough to talk about what happened rationally."

"You mean when Tails--"

"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm talking about. But how'd you learn about it?"

"When Mother found out, she told me everything she knew."

"Man, that sucks."

Cream's ears perked with interest. "What does?"

Sonic sighed and shuffled his feet. "It sucks that now I have to tell you the whole story 'cause Vanilla doesn't know half of it."

"I'd like to hear it from Tails since he knows the entire story, his reasons included."

Sonic let out a long, relieved breath. "Thanks." He flashed his normal cocky grin at her. "So, did I make finding his number easy enough for ya?"

Cream laughed and smiled back at him. "Yes. Yes, you did. Thank you very much."

"Hey, don't peg me as the nice guy here, got it? I had selfish reasons, ya know. One of them being that I knew he wouldn't come back if_ I_ asked him."

"I'm not going to ask him to come back, though."

"I know that, but you did get him closer, and once you tell him what I said, he may come even closer." Sonic shrugged, embarrassed now. "Look, I still consider him my best pal, and I'd kinda like him to come back and help with the whole Eggman thing."

"You'd think he'd have given up by now," Cream commented.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and I'm gonna give up running yesterday."

Cream started to agree, but stopped, blinking in confusion. "That didn't make any sense…How can you give up running yesterday?"

Sonic chuckled. "Exactly, Cream. Exactly." He turned and started to go out the door. "Oh yeah, one more thing. I'll tell Vector that I lost you at the Chao Garden out here, okay? He'll just think you were visiting Cheese and Chocola."

"Thank you again, Sonic." But he was already gone. Cream giggled, locked the door, and grabbed the phone. She had memorized Tails' number by that time and dialed it quickly.

_Meanwhile…_

Tails wrapped his arms around the weasel's neck and started flying up. He continued flying in all sorts of strange patterns until the weasel stopped struggling. He dropped the body to the ground and wiped his forehead. "If you'd just taken the deal--Hmm?" He glanced over to the phone when it rang. "Cream!" He grinned, forgetting the weasel and snatched it up. "Hello?"

"Hello, Tails."

He started to reply, but the door was kicked in at that second. "Um…Can you hold on a few minutes? I'll try and hurry."

"Okay," she responded, a little unsure. The tone of his voice scared her a little…She strained her ears to hear what was going on at his end.

"Boy, you in here?" a polar bear asked.

Tails grinned, seemingly sure of himself. "Sure am, Toss." He cracked his knuckles and glanced at the other two bears, a brown one and a black one.

The black one moved closer. "I see you've killed our friend, here." He gestured towards the weasel.

Tails did not look away from the bears. He had dealt with them before, and knew all of their tricks. "Didn't know you guys had any_ friends_, Spade. Should I apologize for killing him in self-defense?"

The brown one clenched his teeth and growled. "Shut-it, fox! We had a deal, remember? We was gonna give youse da money and you was gonna give us da plane. Where's aw plane?"

"Where's my money?" came his response. "You know I don't give unless I get, Rock."

Cream let out a small gasp. _Tails…killed someone? What had he been doing besides building and inventing?_

The polar bear stepped forward, blocking Rock from attacking. He tossed a briefcase onto the table next to Tails. "Check it. We're on the level this time."

Tails, using a single one of his namesake appendages, opened the case and pulled out a wad of bills. He flicked through them, and looked at it. The second he glanced away, Toss swung a fist at Tails that would have downed a building. Having expected it, the fox ducked, flipped through the money to make sure it was real, and grinned. "You guys were on the level this time. It's a damn shame that you attacked me, though. Now, I'm keeping the money and the plane to pay for damages caused by you and your weasel friend."

"What?!" Spade shouted. "You little bastard!" He charged at Tails, but the fox slipped under him, dodging easily. Rock nearly stepped on him, but Tails managed to trip the brown bear with a single tail.

The phone fell when the bear hit the ground, making the room shake. Tails snagged it and grinned. "Cream, you mind if I call you right back?"

"Will you tell me the truth?"

"What?" He had to dodge another blow from Toss quickly.

"I can hear," she whispered.

Tails sighed. "I know you can, Cream, but…Yeah, I'll tell you the truth." He shot into the air after snagging the money filled briefcase.

"Be careful, Tails. I still expect to see you here tomorrow."

He grinned and slammed the case down on Rock's head. Once again, the bear fell to the ground. There was a lot of money in the case. "Yeah, I'll be careful. Love ya, Cream."

"I love you," she murmured, hanging up.

Tails dropped the phone onto its charger and dove to the left, narrowly avoiding Spade. "Well, hell, I expected you to help Rock, since he's all knocked out and stuff."

"Huh?" Spade, who had not noticed his fallen comrade, looked at Rock, surprised. In the next second, he was looking at nothing, as Tails had crashed the briefcase into his head.

The clever fox dropped to the floor and looked up at Toss. "I'd leave if I were you." Toss narrowed his eyes, but lifted Rock and Spade into his arms and left. "Take the weasel with you!" Tails shouted, throwing the corpse out the door. He quickly lifted the door and drilled it back in place. He knew he would have to hide his important things away before leaving for the Mystic Ruins to see Cream. _Cream!_ he realized. "I said her name out loud," he whispered. "_Shit_!" He grabbed the phone and called her.

She answered on the first ring. "What was all that about, Tails?"

"Well…" He sighed, unsure how to explain this to her over the phone. "Give me an hour, will you? I should be over there by then."

"It takes you that long to get here?"

He laughed a little. "No, but I'm thinking about staying at my old workshop. Permanently again, you know? I don't want to be so far from you, so I'm going to gather a few things up. I can't explain over the phone anyway; it's just too complicated."

"All right. An hour then." She took a deep breath. "I love you, no matter what, Tails. I do love you."

He closed his eyes, picturing her in his mind. "I love you, Cream. More than anything." He hung up and stared at the far wall, deciding what he would leave behind, and what he would take. He ended up opening the hole he had dug in the ground and pulling out his old photo album. He grabbed a large bag and dumped his more expensive tools, some newer inventions that he'd have to really work at to duplicate, blue prints to planes and other inventions and a few pairs of shoes and some vests._ I can't believe that I'm actually going back…Okay, so it's not all the way back, but after…what I did, it's a major leap._ He slung the bag over his shoulder and flew out, checking that no one was following him first.

_Soon…_

He unlocked the door with a smile, glad that she had locked it behind her. "Cream?" he called, then felt foolish. It sounded as if they were married, something he found rather appealing. He rounded a corner and saw her dusting the living room. He grinned and walked into the bedroom to drop his stuff off. _Now, _that_ was a marital image._ He grinned wider and walked back to her. He grabbed her and pressed his lips against hers when she let out a startled gasp. "What are you doing?" he asked once he let her go.

"If you're going to live here, it needs to be clean," she explained, pushing an ear out of her face.

He chuckled at her. "So you've taken it upon yourself to clean it?"

"Yes." She smiled at him, relieved that he did appear hurt at all. "But now that you're here, you're going to explain everything to me while I take a break."

"Okay, but you won't really like it, Cream." He sat down in an old chair and tugged her into his lap. "Okay…" He closed his eyes. _Where to begin? At the start I guess…_ "You already know what I did, don't you?"

"Not the whole thing, no."

"All right…I'll start there, then. It was supposed to be easy," he started, remembering.

_**Flashback…**_

Sonic grabbed Tails' hand and jumped onto the wing of the Tornado 2. "Okay, so all we gotta do is grab Knux and Shad, then we can get 'im," Sonic explained.

"What's he planning on doing, anyway?" Tails asked, though he already knew.

"No idea, but we can take ol' Eggy, whatever he tries."

_Soon…_

Knuckles punched his way into the metal building. Shadow, Sonic, and Tails all followed behind him. "Tails, you got that Chaos Emerald tracker, don't you?"

He nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I got it."

Shadow nodded. "Good. Use it. I feel a lot of Chaos energy in here."

Sonic gave Tails an odd look. "Why do you have the emerald tracker? Normally you leave it in the plane. Why'd you bring it out this time?"

"Um…I dunno," he lied. "It was just a feeling, I guess."

"Hey, slowpokes!" Shadow growled. "Let's go!"

They all moved warily, slower than normal. It was an eerie feeling that they all had. Something bad was going to happen, and they all knew it. Tails just thought he knew exactly why he felt that way, so moved with more ease than the others…It nearly got him shot when one of Eggman's robots came out of nowhere. "Crap!" he shouted when its light beam locked on him.

Sonic used Triangle Jump to scale the wall and spindash into it, knocking the thing down.

Knuckles punched it a few times until it was destroyed.

Shadow cursed when the red alert sounded, informing Eggman of their presence. "Now, let's go, you imbeciles! Stop wasting time gloating over the destruction of a single 'bot."

Sonic pouted a little at him. "We weren't gloating," he muttered.

"Maybe not out loud," Shadow hissed. He turned and started running down the hall, destroying robots as he went.

The other three followed close behind until they reached a forked path. "Damn it! Which one do we choose?" Sonic wondered, annoyed.

Tails racked his brain for the blue prints he had managed to find. "The left one!"

Again, Sonic gave him an odd look. "How do you know for sure? You didn't even _look_ at the tracker. What's with you today?"

Tails stared at him blankly for a minute, than looked at the tracker. It said that a Chaos Emerald was down the right path, but his memory said the opposite. "Um…"

"What the devil does the tracker say?" Shadow demanded.

"It says go down the…left path," he fibbed.

"Then let's go!" Knuckles barked, running off.

Shadow shook his head at Sonic. "Stop questioning the boy. He's never lied before." He nodded once at Tails and followed Knuckles.

Sonic narrowed his eyes at Tails. "I know you haven't, so you'd better not be now. We need those Chaos Emeralds, pal."

Tails nodded and they ran after Shadow and Knuckles.

_Soon…_

"Where the hell is the Chaos Emerald?!" Shadow shouted, rounding on Tails. "Did you just tell us to go left because you didn't want to admit that you were wrong?"

"No!" Tails defended himself, even though Shadow was completely on target. "It's what it said!"

"What does it say now?" Knux asked, annoyed.

Tails swallowed hard and stared at the tracking screen, searching for any way to get to the Chaos Emeralds without going back. He found one and grinned. "Come on!" The others followed him, almost sure that Tails was not leading them on a wild goose chase…

_**Flashback Interruption…**_

Cream snuggled closer against Tails and kissed his cheek. "You shouldn't have lied to them, Tails."

"I know that, but…at that moment in time…I don't know. I guess it was just growing pains or something…" He shifted her into a more comfortable position for both of them and kept talking…

_**Flashback Continuation…**_

"_That_ was a pain in the ass!" Sonic muttered, annoyed at all of the traps and badniks that had been in their path.

Tails flinched. "Sorry, but it's the only way I saw to go."

"Besides going backwards," Shadow stated, glaring at the fox.

"Well…I…No, going back wouldn't have worked…"

Knuckles growled at him. "Save your pride, kid. You've always managed to do it before, so what's wrong with today? Are ya PMSin' or what?"

Tails flinched again, embarrassed.

"At least he led to the Emeralds this time," Sonic decided reaching for one. When he closed his hand around it, a red alert sounded.

"Crap! I forgot!" Tails shouted. All of them snapped their attention towards him, and he sweatdropped. _Umm…Yeah…I'm in trouble…_

"What do you mean, _you forgot_?!" Shadow roared. "Just what did you _forget_?"

Before Tails could answer, an army of robots burst through the walls. Knuckles glared at Tails. "This was supposed to be a 'get-in, get-out' sorta thing, and it ends up being an 'oh crap, we're gonna die' thing. Just how does that happen?"

Sonic glanced at Tails. "Tails, what didn't you tell us before we came here?"

"Well…Shadow, Look out!"

The hedgehog quickly darted out of the way, closer to the Chaos Emeralds._ If I can just get close enough to use Chaos Control…_ "Ouch!" he shouted as another robot slammed him into a far wall. Shadow jumped back to his feet before it could cause him any more trouble, and helped Knuckles take it down.

"Damn it, Tails! This is _your_ fault, you know!"

The boy flinched away and moved closer to Sonic to help with the Chaos Emeralds. The hedgehog threw the green one to Tails. "Shadow works best with this one! Give it to him!"

Tails grumbled under his breath, annoyed for a reason he could not even explain, but still managed to give Shadow the green emerald. The hedgehog snatched it from him and held it above his head. "CHAOS CONTROL!" he shouted and the four animals were engulfed in light.

As soon as he realized they were outside, Knuckles rounded on Tails. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Shadow crossed his arms and glared at the kit. "You knew just what was in store for us didn't you? Traitor," he muttered.

Tails narrowed his eyes. "I am NOT a traitor!"

"Then how could you have _forgotten_ what would happen when Sonic grabbed a Chaos Emerald?"

Sonic stepped between them, eyes on Tails. "What did you do?"

The fox tossed his head, grumbling to himself. "Look, all I did was figure out how to hack into Eggman's main frame computers, okay?"

"And you didn't tell us?!" Shadow snarled.

Knuckles' eyes flashed with anger. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" He took a step forward. "You almost got us killed!" he shouted, raising his fists.

"I didn't mean to!" he shouted, flailing his arms, fear etched onto his face. He looked at everyone, the people he had called his friends for years. None of them would meet his eyes.

No one but Sonic, his hero, his best friend ever. "Then what did you mean to do?"

Knuckles punched his fists together with a loud _smack!_ "I don't care what he was _tryin'_ to do! He damn near got us killed with all that!"

"It's not like you've never made a mistake, Knucklehead!"

The Echidna took a threatening step forward. "Nothing on _this_ level, though!"

"Let the fox tell his side of the story, then," Shadow muttered, glaring at Tails.

Sonic's eyes cleared a little, hopeful that his friend would be able to defend himself. "Yeah, pal, tell us why you did that," he encouraged.

"I…" He swallowed, knowing that none of them would like his answer. He took a small step back, than prepared his tails for flight. "I can't," he whispered.

Sonic stared at him, shock showing clearly in his emerald eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Shadow scoffed and took a battle stance. "Can't tell us because he knows we'd kill him!"

Tails shook his head. "No! It's not like that! You guys just don't understand!" He took more steps back as Shadow advanced on him.

Knuckles took another menacing step forward now. "Then tell us so we will."

He looked from Shadow to Knuckles, panicking. A bead of sweat trailed down his face, his eyes widened. Sonic ran in between Tails and the other two. "When has Tails NOT had a good reason for doing something, you guys? He had his reasons, we all know it. He doesn't have to tell us if--"

"You'll stick up for little miss perfect, won't ya? But every time I screw up it's 'What'd you do this time, Knucklehead?' 'How could you have been so stupid?' 'Why'd you do that, idiot?' I'm tired of that shit!"

Sonic shifted into his own battle stance. "Sounds like you're jealous of Tails, to me."

"Heh. Why would I be jealous of your little fuck buddy?" Knuckles sneered.

"My…" Sonic's eyes narrowed dangerously. "That's it! I've had it with you!" He glared back at Tails. "Get outta here. Now."

Not wasting any time, Tails flew away. His heart pounded painfully in his chest and when he looked back, he saw all three of them fighting. _I didn't mean to mess up like that…Now I can't even explain why I did it in the first place…_

_**Flashback Interruption…**_

"Why did you do it, Tails? Why didn't you just tell them?"

"Growing pains?" he suggested again. "I don't know, Cream. It was stupid, though."

She smiled at him and took his hand, giving it a light squeeze. "I knew most of that, though. But I'd really like to know what happened afterwards."

Tails sighed and linked their fingers better. "You won't really like it, I think."

"Tell me anyway," she said, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Okay, fine. See, after I took off, went straight for you…"

_**Flashback Continuation…**_

Tails flew inside, than pounded up the stairs quickly, only stopping to greet Vector. "Cream!"

The young rabbit glanced over at him, soft smile blooming. "Hello, Tails!" Then her smile faded into a look of worry. "What happened? Is everyone okay? Are you?"

"I'm fine, but I really messed up…" He shook his head and tried smiling at her, but failed.

She walked closer to him and gave him a hug. "This is really bad, isn't it?"

He nodded and started to speak, but the phone rang. They both listened to the conversation as well as possible. "What did he do?" Vector shouted. "Yeah, he's here! I'll get him!"

Tails stared at her for a second, than stepped out of her arms. "Listen, Cream, I don't have a lot of time to explain, but I did something really stupid. I have to leave, okay?" He rested a hand on her cheek and offered her a small smile. "I'll try to come back, but who knows when that'll happen?"

She gripped his hand, tears streaming down her face. "I'll wait. I swear I will…"

He pressed his lips to her quickly. "Don't, Cream…Don't waste your life waiting for an idiot, okay?"

"Creeeeam!" a voice, the voice of her step-father, Vector, shouted.

Tails' eyes darted towards the door as the knob began turning. He gave her a last look, and was gone.

_**Flashback Interruption…**_

Cream giggled softly and snuggled closer. "I told you I'd wait."

"Yeah, but I still don't know why…"

"Everyone makes mistakes, Tails."

"Yeah…I guess…" To not talk about that, Tails started talking again.

_**Flashback Continuation…**_

Tails shot past his Mystic Ruins workshop, thinking it was not far enough away. He flew until he could not push himself any longer and landed in a back alley. He hid himself as well as possible and fell asleep.

_The Next Morning…_

Tails awoke to the sound of voices, but did not move. His mind was quick enough, even after just waking up, that he understood that the voices did _not _belong to kind people. "Listen, Toss, all we gotta do is take the little freak and use 'im for somethin'. He looks healthy."

Tails heard a deep rumble that he assumed was laughter from the one called 'Toss.' "And if we break him, he won't be of any use to us, Rock. Heh. The only two-tailed fox freak that I've ever heard of is that Miles 'Tails' Prower kid that always hangs around Sonic the Hedgehog."

The ground shook a little as a…third (?) bear stomped the ground, or that was what Tails believed. "Listen at me. I say, if this little rat is that Miles kit, we can always jes return him." He waited a beat as the other two bears gave him odd looks. "For a price, that is."

The three of them laughed, not paying attention to the boy. He started inching away slowly, afraid. "He's movin'!" the first bear, Rock, shrieked.

Tails froze, caught. Toss snickered and grabbed his tails, making him yelp. "Well, he is awake! Tell us, fox, what's your name?" When Tails remained silent, Toss laughed. "Okay, I'll tell you our names. I'm Toss, the Brown Bear there is Rock, and the black one is Spade. Now, you're gonna tell us your name."

"Why should I?" Tails spat, attempting to look tougher than he felt.

"'Cause if you don't, I'm gonna have fox-tail soup! Ya get it?" Rock threatened.

Toss waved a furry white hand. "Now, Rock, that ain't no way to convince--" He broke off as the tails in his hand started spinning. "Fuck!" He jumped back, letting Tails go.

_**End Flashback…**_

"So, after that we somehow came to an agreement…"

"What kind of agreement?" Cream asked him, wary.

"The kind of agreement where I became their hit-man…Or I joined a huge organization called 'The Ring' as one…" His ears drooped and he did not meet her eyes. "It was just last year when I quit doing that. I…I just couldn't do it any longer…That's when I started building things again, and I managed to invent some odds-and-ends stuff."

"For money," she murmured.

His eyes closed and he nodded, ashamed. "For money…"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear. "At least you're done with them, and you're okay."

"Cream…" he started. "I really ticked them off, so they'll be searching for me…They figured out who I am because I didn't have the foresight to really lead them off that trail, so they'll be able to find me. I'm not really done with them…Damn it…" He waited for her to look at his eyes before continuing. "I said your name in front of them. You know what that means, right?" He stood and started pacing, leaving her in the chair. "Crap…Now I have to really go into hiding for a while…To avoid them and to keep them away from you…"

"No."

He kept talking as if he had not heard her, then stopped as what she had declared registered. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"I don't want you to leave after you've just come back." She stood and hugged him when he shook his head. "Please don't leave me again, Tails. I love you."

"Cream, you know I love you too, but that means I have to keep you safe."

"What about the others?"

Tails scoffed at her. "With everyone else hating me, how can I ask for their help?" he demanded.

"Vector asked Sonic to follow me today," she said quietly. "I didn't know he was here until after I'd listened to your message, so by then he knew that we'd seen each other."

Tails rubbed his forehead, trying to rid himself of a pending headache. "…What'd he say?"

Cream giggled lightly. "A lot of things."

"One of his usual rambling statements?" he asked, giving her a wry grin.

Cream nodded enthusiastically. "Yep!" she exclaimed, than her voice sobered. "But the main thing he said was that he wanted me to convince you to come back. He says that he still considers you to be his best friend, and told me that Shadow and Knuckles have calmed down enough to be able to talk about what happened without shouting at you."

Tails paced a few more minutes, then stopped to simply look at her. "I'm worried about you though…I can't let you get hurt…"

"Then I'll stay here with you," she announced, willing say to just about anything to make him stay close to her.

"I can't ask you to stay with me, Cream." _No matter how much I'd like you to,_ he added silently.

"You didn't ask me," she reminded him. "But if you'd rather I didn't, I can always have Sonic stay here."

"I just noticed something," he evaded, "you dropped the 'Mister.'"

"He stopped answering to it, so I stopped saying it." She moved to him and slid her hands in his again. "And you're avoiding the subject at hand. I need you here, Tails, and…" She shifted closer. "I'd like to stay."

His arms came tightly around her. "I guess this means I'll have to announce that fact that I'm back. No one'd let you stay here alone." His arms tightened as something new occurred to him. "No one is going to let you stay with me, Cream."

"Tails?" She smiled at him. "I'm old enough to make my own decisions. Besides, they would too."

"I'm a freakin' murderer, Cream! God, damn it, why would you want to have anything t--" He broke off on a groan when she kissed him, deeply.

"You're not a murderer. You just did what you had to do, Tails." When he tried to pull away, she pressed a kiss on the fluff of white fur on his chest. It stilled him, making her smile. She shifted even closer and could feel him harden. She bit her lip, remembering what they had done two days before. She looked into his eyes and slid her hand down slowly, closing it around him.

His breath whooshed out and his heart began thumping loud and hard in his chest. He wondered if she could hear it. "Cream…" He reached down and gathered the bottom of her dress in his hands in question. She nodded, and he slid the garment over her head. Studying her, he wondered just how she could be so perfect, even as his mind clouded over.

She smiled and wondered if she could make his control snap…She had heard enough stories from Rouge to know that if a man lost control with you, then you were good.

"What's that look for?" Tails asked her, breaking into her thoughts.

"I'm wondering just how much control you have." She held her breath when his jaw dropped. _Oh, no…Did I just ruin it?_

Tails grinned at her and flicked the clasp of her bra open. She gasped at the sudden movement. "Planning on breaking my control, Cream?"

Her eyes went very wide as his hand trailed down to slide her panties off. "I don't know how," she gasped.

His vest landed on the floor. "I'll show you how, then." He reached down and cupped her, making her head fall back. He started toying with her, touching her until she was panting and moaning. He waited until her eyes flew open and she arched against him before he spoke. "You know how I said to follow your instincts?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to drive you so crazy, that that's all you'll have: Instincts." He lifted her into his arms and walked into the bedroom. He set her on the bed, as gently as he had before, but there was something new in his eyes: Challenge, and the need to meet it. He tugged off her shoes while prying his own off, then inched his way up her body. He sent her over the next edge with open-mouthed kisses and small nips of his teeth.

By the time he reached her mouth, her body was trembling and her eyes were shining. He dipped his tongue into her mouth, and she greedily kissed him back. He rolled onto his back, bringing her with him to rest on top of his chest. "Instinct," he whispered. "Use it."

Her body pulsed, little beats of pleasure. She stared at him, confused for a moment, before her smile widened. She slipped down his body and took him into her mouth. He jerked in shock, nearly making her gag. She looked up, unsure what to do. _Instinct!_ her mind shouted. She slid her tongue over him, making him groan. She knew by now not to stop when he groaned, so kept it up.

His eyes closed tightly as his hands fisted on the sheets. _Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to let her do whatev…_ His mind flicked off when he felt her teeth sink into him. "Cream," he moaned. She started sucking him, gaining confidence with each moan and shout he gave. "Cream! Oh…" He crossed his eyes with the effort not to release. "Cream, you gotta…Oh, man…You gotta…" He groaned when she trailed back up his body to kiss him, relieved. Swallowing him would be too much for her to handle so soon.

When her hand gripped him and started gently massaging, it was too much, though. He flipped her onto her back and drove himself into her. Cream cried out, surprised, but quickly started moving with him, meeting Tails thrust for thrust. When her juices started flowing, she shouted out his name. He groaned out hers when he was finally able to release.

_Soon…_

"Just to let you know," he whispered, "you have the best instincts ever."

She giggled through a yawn, and snuggled against him. "I've decided that 'love' doesn't even begin to cover what I feel for you."

He pressed a kiss to her sweat-covered brow. "We'll come up with a word while we're cleaning later, all right?" She only nodded, half asleep.

_Much Later…_

Cream did a small dance before going inside her parent's house. Before she could run to her room and start packing, Vanilla stopped her. She looked over her daughter, studying her for any signs of…anything, really. When Vanilla found something reflected in Cream's eyes, she sighed. "You weren't at the Chao Garden in the Mystic Ruins were you?"

Cream avoided her mother's eyes when she answered. "No, I wasn't."

Vanilla sighed and walked to the stairs. "Let's go to your room, then. I want to know who you were with."

"Mother…" she started, following her up the stairs and into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. "You can't tell anyone who I with just yet. Not until he's ready to say that he's back."

Vanilla's face softened as she realized just who Cream was talking about. "Tails is back?"

Cream swallowed. "Do you promise not to say who I was with?" she pressed, eyes wide.

"Now don't worry, sweetie." Vanilla drew her daughter into a hug. "No one will find out from me, all right? I'm glad he was your first and not some stranger, to tell the truth."

"There's more to it then just that…" Cream walked over to her window and sighed. "I love him, and he loves me back." She thought again that love was not strong enough, but they had not been able to come up with a word that was.

"Well, you're not planning on moving in with him, are you?"

Cream turned to her mother with a brilliant smile on her face. "That's exactly what we're planning on, Mother."

"But he just got back! You can't just move in like that!"

Her eyes flickered, as she had been hoping that she would not get any argument. "So it's okay for me to jump into bed with him? It's fine for me to automatically love him?"

Vanilla held out a hand for Cream's and was pleased when her daughter took it. "You've always loved that boy…I know that, but…I'd rather you didn't live with him just yet."

"I'm old enough now that I could leave with or without your blessing," Cream stated, then immediately regretted it. "Oh, mother, that sounded mean! I'm so sorry!" She gripped her mother's hand with both of hers, pleading forgiveness with her chocolate eyes.

"It's all right, Cream. I know you didn't mean it quite the way it came out." When she saw her daughter still silently pleading, Vanilla sighed, giving in. "Vector won't be pleased that you're leaving. He'll also have quite a few questions for you, but if you'll let me help you pack, I'll distract him."

Cream laughed and threw her arms around Vanilla. "Thank you," she whispered, tears sliding down her cheeks. "Thank you so much, Mother."

Vanilla sighed, part of her heart breaking at the thought of her baby leaving. "Let's get started, Cream. We don't want to keep Tails waiting forever," she added, wiping away her own tears.

_Later…_

Cream skipped into the workshop, laughing as she dragged a suitcase with her. She had grabbed her car and had packed it full of her things the second her mother had convinced Vector to take her out. Vipe had demanded to be taken to a friend's house because Cream had slipped the idea to him.

Tails walked out of the bathroom as she was pulling her third bag in, fur glistening with water from his shower. "Back so soon?" he asked, making her drop the case. He went to her and lifted it easily. "You packed everything you own didn't you?"

She blushed a little. "I might have. Why?"

He laughed and gave her a smacking kiss. "Good. I'll help you get these things inside."

She ran to the car to grab another case, a light one this time, and ran back inside. "I need to get these suitcases back to the house soon. Before Daddy and Mother get home, that is."

Tails snapped is fingers. "Dang, and I was hoping to distract you."

She blinked in curiosity. "How?" His smile was slow and had her thighs going lax. "Oh…That's how," she murmured, then ran back outside before he could really distract her.

He laughed and dressed quickly, so he could help with the heavier things.

_Soon…_

"I'll be back!" she called, accidentally slamming the door. She popped her head back in, a light blush tinting her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Tails."

He laughed until she was gone, then stared at the phone, the laughter dieing away. _I've got to call him…He said he wasn't mad, so…_ Tails took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing," he whispered. He dialed the number, one he had been so used to before that now his hands felt clumsy.

When Sonic answered, Tails froze, unsure what to say. "Hello?" Sonic asked again, already impatient. "Listen, pal, this better--"

"Hey, Sonic," he choked out. Tails jerked the phone away from his ear when he heard a clattering sound.

"Sorry, dropped the phone," Sonic muttered. "Where are you?"

"At my old workshop in the Mystic Ruins."

"Really? The message you left--I mean…um…Yeah."

Tails chuckled, but the sound was rusty. "I know you were trailing Cream. She told me. So, uh…Cream gave me your message," he blurted.

"Good!" Sonic brightened at once, sure that he and Tails would go back to best bud status quickly. "You plannin' on stickin' around?"

Tails bit his lip, unsure if telling the truth was right. His eyes hardened when he remembered the last time he had thought that. "Yeah, I'm staying this time around, Sonic. Cream's moving in with me."

"Heh. Vector won't be overly thrilled about that once he finds out."

"No. No he won't."

Sonic grinned wider now. "Give me a second, okay?" Tails stared at the phone when Sonic hung up, then his eyes widened. He darted to the door and had just unlocked it when Sonic showed up in front of him. "Long time, no see, huh?" The hedgehog winked at him, then studied his old friend. "Nice threads," he commented, cocking his head with a laugh.

Tails smiled back. "You haven't changed at all, have you?"

"Heck nah. Why would I wanna change?" Sonic smirked at Tails cockily. "I'm perfect, according to the ladies."

Tails snorted. "Yeah, one in particular."

He winced a little at the thought of Amy. "Right…_her…_"

Tails laughed again, more easily now that the hedgehog was here. "Still running far and fast when it comes to being seriously tied down, aren't you?"

Sonic sweatdropped. "I guess I am, yeah." Quickly bouncing back from his quick moment of self-reflection, Sonic grinned. "I guess I'm just the opposite of you. You've barely gotten back and you're already having Cream move in with you." Sonic noticed Tails' embarrassed look and chuckled at him. "You just want some nookie, don't ya?"

Tails looked back at him, the blush seeping through his snowy muzzle. "That's not it."

Sonic's eyes crossed. "You love her and all that crap?"

"It's not crap," Tails defended.

Sonic rolled his eyes, amused and un-offended. "Yeah, okay. But you do love her?"

Tails relaxed his shoulders slowly. "Yeah, I do."

Sonic studied the fox again, longer this time. "You really have changed, haven't you?" His response was to shrug. Sonic winced as a thought occurred to him. "I would never let Amy move in with me," he muttered.

Tails sniggered. "No, you wouldn't, but I still say you shouldn't run from her."

"You've always taken her side," Sonic stated. "I don't get why everyone seems to!"

"Maybe because…" He paused, as if thinking about it. "Maybe because she's right and you're not?"

Sonic narrowed his eyes. "I don't like that," he mumbled. When someone shouted for Tails, Sonic glanced behind him. "Good timing for lover girl. See ya, Tails! Don't wait years before getting in touch with me again!" Sonic bolted away, the sound of his laugh trailing behind him.

Cream flew up to Tails, tackling him in an embrace. He staggered back a little, ramming into the side of the workshop. "Was that Sonic?" she asked.

"Mmm…Who?" he teased.

She giggled and kissed him. "It was, wasn't it? You didn't fight, did you?"

He laughed, carrying her inside. "No, we didn't. We joked around as if we'd seen each other everyday, actually. Does he still flip out when he sees Amy?"

Cream rolled her eyes and jumped out of his arms to start putting her things away. "Sadly." She pushed an ear out of her face and gave him a look. "It's wearing on her, I think. She doesn't talk about him as much, nor does she tackle him every time he's within a two mile radius." She opened a drawer and set a neatly folded dress in it. "No, you know what? He isn't running away from her like he used to, come to think of it." A smile bloomed across her face. "I didn't realize that," she murmured, "until just now."

"It's good, though. I always used to pull for Amy."

"I always have, and I always will until she does get him." She handed him an armful of clothes. "Could you hang those up for me, please?"

"Sure." They worked like that for a few hours, laughing and talking, until they heard a bang on the door.

Tails' muscles tensed out of habit, but he relaxed them. _They can't have found us already,_ he assured himself. But he still crouched low and moved silently to a window where he could see who was outside. He crawled back to Cream. "Go out the back," he whispered.

Cream's eyes widened. "What?"

"Come on, Cream. Either go out the back or--" _Crash!_ "Fuck!" He grabbed Cream's hand and dragged her into the bedroom. "Use the phone, and call Sonic," he muttered. "It's not just Toss, Rock, and Spade, okay? Eggman's with them, so call Sonic," he said again. He gave her a quick kiss and darted into the living room. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded of them.

Eggman, obviously older, his small head covered in wrinkles, was the first to answer. "We've come to get rid if you," he explained, about to give an entire speech about how useless it was to try and escape and such, but Toss interrupted him.

"Listen, Doc, if there's anything I've learned over the years, it's not to monologue. Just attack!" He did so, but Tails was prepared and slipped around him, tails twirling madly. He managed to dodge the other attacks, and sailed outside, getting as far from Cream as possible.

Spade was the first after him. "We just want our money back, fox! Once you give us all of it, we'll leave you and your girlfriend alone!"

"Girlfriend?" Eggman inquired.

Rock cracked his knuckles. "Some bitch named Cream."

Tails let out a relieved breath. They did not even know who Cream was! "That rabbit?" Eggman snarled, making Tails' heart speed up.

"Oh, so the freak's goin' with a real hump machine!" Rock barked, tittering to himself.

"Not this rabbit," Eggman muttered. "She's much too perfect to sleep with anyone before marriage."

Tails glanced at all of them, grateful that they were too busy talking to fight. It gave Sonic more time to get there. He took a step back as he realized that Toss was still inside. He darted around everyone, startling them enough so that they did not attack.

He grabbed Toss just before the polar bear could crash his way through the bedroom door. Toss slung himself against the wall, smashing Tails against it, but the fox kept his hold. Rage filled him, making him that much stronger, not to mention that much more stubborn.

Toss continued to struggle against him though. Finally, the polar bear stumbled outside and the other two bears started yanking on Tails, but he kept his hold until a loud _snap_ was heard.

Toss crumpled to the ground just as Sonic ran up, using a spin-dash against Eggman and the machine he had jumped into. The hedgehog landed to see Tails cracking his knuckles. "Who's next?" the boy threatened.

Sonic sweatdropped at the unoriginality then got a good look at the polar bear, laying motionless on the ground. "Tail, _what_ did you do?"

"Huh?" The twin-tailed vulpine glanced at Sonic, forgetting that he had been on his way. "Took you long enough!" he shouted, getting his bearings.

"Sorry, but I had make a phone call!"

"To who?!" A black blur raced past him, tackling Eggman as Sonic had done. "Shadow?" Tails whispered. Rock used the moment to punch Tails, sending him careening back. He slammed into the side of the building, but quickly hopped back again. He flew up and shot past Rock's head, confusing him, then came back to smash his foot into the brown bear's head.

Rock pitched forward, only to meet a fist on the way down. Rock fell onto his back, and Tails saw just who had punched him. "Knuckles?!"

The Echidna shrugged, embarrassed over what he had done the last time he had seen Tails. "Shadow called me after Sonic called him."

"Oh." When Rock started to stir, Tails dropped onto his chest and wrapped his tails around the bear's neck, cutting off his oxygen supply.

Knuckles took a step back. "Are you killing him?" Tails nodded, ignoring Rock's thrashing movements. Before Knuckles could question him further, the black bear stopped helping Eggman and moved to attack Tails. Knuckles watched, shocked, when the boy flew straight up at the last second. Spade trampled Rock's neck, breaking it in his haste to snatch the fox.

Tails smirked. "Thanks a lot, Spade, killing him for me." When the bear looked down, Tails slammed his feet onto his head, knocking him out.

"Since when do you kill, Tails?"

"Since I had to do it to survive," he retorted, going for Eggman.

"Hey!" Knuckles ran after him, wondering what he would do next.

Shadow landed next to Tails, barely sparing the bears a glance. He knew that killing your opponents was sometimes the only way to rid yourself of them. It was something that he had been trying to convince Sonic of since before Tails' had even left. "I don't like to apologize," he said to Tails.

Tails nodded. "Apology accepted, then." He nodded at Sonic, who was feverishly trying to break through the metal. "What's that?"

"That is Sonic trying to get Amy out of Eggman's new creation."

Tails sighed. "Why doesn't Sonic just get over himself and kill him? I doubt his fame would deplete too much."

Knuckles crossed his eyes at the talk of death. He had seen too much of it to actively support it like the two next to him. He opened his mouth to argue with them, but metal arms burst out of Eggman's machine and slammed into Tails workshop. The boy flew off quickly, disturbing both Shadow and Knuckles. "He's gotten fast," the Echidna muttered.

"Didn't Sonic say that Cream was here?" Shadow mumbled, watching the hedgehog slam into Eggman's machine, only to get thrown back. Again. "Screw this." He pulled out a gun and started firing rounds into the side, spin dashing at the same time.

Knuckles ran over to help Tails. He rammed a fist into the metal arm, only making a small dent. He glanced at Tails, who was closer to the head of it. The boy was frantically bashing it with his tails and his feet. Knuckles moved closer and started deepening the dents Tails had already created. The metallic arm swung back and smashed into the workshop again.

"Cream!" Tails shouted when she screamed. "It's okay! Hang on!" He started working harder, urging Knuckles to do the same.

The Echidna worked furiously, helping his old friend. "Damn it! Just go get her out, okay?"

Tails swallowed, then, nodding flew into the building to snatch her. "Come on, Cream." He slid out into another room, pulling her behind him. He hopped into an old plane that was so dusty, he could hardly tell what it was. Once he was inside the cock pit, he knew though, and grinned widely. He glanced back at Cream. "Buckle-up!" he shouted, hitting a switch. The ground started rumbling as the side of the cliff morphed into a runway. Tails waited, slightly impatient for the thing to finish so he could take-off, then flew out as soon as he was able.

Sonic glanced up at the familiar sound of its engine, and grinned. He smirked at Shadow. "And _you_ called him a traitor."

Shadow glared at him. "Shut-up, Sonic." Both hedgehogs looked over at a loud snapping sound to see Knuckles break the metallic arm. He had continued punching it, not wanting Tails' workshop to get destroyed.

In the cock-pit, Tails was studying the controls, reacquainting himself with them. Luckily he was able to figure them out quickly, and grinned to himself as he pressed a small blue button. "Sonic, can you hear me?"

The small device that Tails had inserted into Sonic's ear years before crackled a little before working. Sonic grinned widely and winked at Shadow. "You bet I can hear you, pal. Haven't seen the Tornado 2 in a real long time." As he spoke, he had to dodge more and more metallic arms. They kept swatting him away from where he had heard Amy's voice. Well, Amy's scream.

Shadow put more bullets into Eggman's machine, but the already tough exterior transformed into something even stronger. Eggman laughed cruelly. "This entire machine is programmed to Amy's brain!" he announced. "When she feels threatened, stronger shields get placed around it! Muahahahaha!"

Sonic cursed. "We'll get her out, Eggman! You've already tried something like this! We'll convince her to calm down!"

"Sonic?" he heard in his ear.

"Huh?" He blinked, still unused to Tails after all this time. "Crap, what is it, Tails?"

"I hacked into the main frame of his machine, and I found a visual image of Amy…" He trailed off, not wanting to reveal just what he had just seen.

"What's going on, pal?" When Tails did not respond, Sonic swallowed and decided to press a metaphorical button. "I'm getting' a serious case of déjà vu, here. You gonna tell me or are we gonna have a repeat of what happened last time?"

Tails let out a long sigh and glanced back at Cream. "Tell him," she whispered. She had seen what was happening too, and did not like it.

"Okay, Sonic. He's torturing Amy. It looks like he's running electricity through her body--Shit! There it goes again!"

Sonic jerked in pain when a scream came through. It cut off quickly though and Tails apologized for not having the mute on in time. "No problem, Tails. Now I know that we really need to get through to her." He yelled to Shadow. "Hurry up and break through! Knuckles, how ya doin'?"

"Just peachy," the Echidna grunted, narrowly avoiding getting sliced in half by and oncoming arm.

Tails growled and fired a missile, snapping a group of arms off, than slamming into the side of Eggman's craft. The fox grinned as saw it created a large dent in it. He fired another, blasting a hole into the craft.

Sonic bolted in and came out, an unconscious Amy in his arms a few minutes later. "Nice job, Tails. Now let's really mess this thing up."

Tails turned a few dials, and flicked a few switches. "I'm aiming for the control station," he stated.

"What?! That'll kill Eggman!"

"I know, Sonic, but--"

"You don't have to kill him to win!" Sonic interrupted.

Shadow glanced at the hedgehog, curious. "Just what is Tails saying?"

"He's going to aim one of those missiles at Eggman!"

Shadow waited a beat. "And the problem would be?" When Sonic just glared at him, Shadow shrugged. "It's not as if anyone would miss him, Sonic."

Knuckles groaned and managed to snap another arm off. He flung it at the craft, and shouted at the two hedgehogs. "If you're not gonna help me, I'll quit!"

Shadow growled and switched the ammo in his gun. The weapon was specially designed for him, so that he did not have to carry more than one. He aimed for the cock-pit on Eggman's machine and fired. The glass shattered, and Eggman gave a startled yelp.

Sonic stared at him then looked up at the Tornado 2 when Tails began talking. "Sonic, you know if we let him get away this time he'll create something even more dangerous."

"If he hurt Amy this bad this time, how much worse will the next machine be?" Cream added. She may not have been overly pleased with the idea of killing someone, but she understood why it was necessary this time.

Still, Sonic hesitated. "What do you think, Knuckles?"

"I say we get the bastard out of our fur, and bury him!" he shouted, snapping another arm. He jumped and threw it, but his landing was wobbly, as he was exhausted, so he overbalanced and fell. Before anyone could react, he was under a metallic arm.

"Knuckles!" Sonic shouted. He could not do anything since he was holding Amy, so yelled for Shadow to help him. The hedgehog put his gun away and ran for the Echidna. He tried, but could not get the arm up.

"Damn it, Sonic! Let me kill him so I can take control of that craft!" Tails screamed.

Tense seconds passed as Sonic thought about his options. He sighed, realizing that he did not have any. "Do it," he muttered.

"Are you sure?" Cream asked. She gave Tails a small smile when he glared at her.

Sonic stared at Shadow, still struggling to raise the arm Knuckles was pinned under, than darted for the cock-pit Eggman was in. He laid Amy on the ground and stared hard at Eggman. "Get that arm off Knuckles. Now!"

Eggman laughed. "Why would I help that fool? He's caused me nothing but grief! So have you, and all of your friends!"

Sonic sighed. "Sorry, Eggman, but those'll be your last few sentences." He lifted Amy and darted out, Eggman shouting how he would never die. "Kill him!" Sonic shouted, sprinting over to help Shadow and Knuckles. He risked setting Amy down, but did not go more than a few inches from her to help Shadow lift the arm. When it started sinking into the ground, Sonic started panicking. "What's taking so long, Tails?"

The boy did not answer, panicking himself as he fought for control of the plane. "Eggman's got a hold of me!" He grunted with the effort of turning the missile control. He had one left and Eggman was trying to use it on Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles. Cream hurriedly unbuckled her seat-belt and wrapped her hands around the control, helping Tails turn it. The second they had it aimed for Eggman, Tails fired.

Tails and Cream watched the missile hit Eggman dead-on and drag him to the back of the craft where it exploded. The heavy armor insulated the explosion so that it did not even faze Sonic and Shadow. Tails hastily hacked into the main frame and took over the controls. He lifted the arm off Knuckles, nearly knocking into the hedgehogs with it in his haste.

Shadow jumped into the small hole and lifted Knuckles, running off to get him help. Tails landed the plane as Sonic followed, carrying Amy. Tails let out a long sigh and gave Cream a wry grin. "Well, glad that's over." He looked at his workshop. "Let's see just what was broken."

"It's good that the workshop wasn't smashed up."

_The workshop,_ he repeated silently. _I wonder if we can make it into a home…_ "You're telling me." He grinned, lifting her out of the plane with him. They walked past the bears, the only sign Tails gave of noticing them, was the soft sigh that had Cream wrapping her arms around him from behind as they walked.

They trailed into the bedroom last, after finding that nothing else had been severely damaged. "A few things fell off the shelf and broke, but that's all I remember," Cream told him.

Tails nodded. "Okay, then. We'll just clean up in here, and then we'll try to find out where Shadow and Sonic took Knuckles and Amy."

"Then what?" she asked, already pulling a broom and dustpan from the hall closet.

He watched her sweep as he thought about it. "Then we'll make sure they're all right."

She did not hear the teasing light in his voice, so just shook her head. "Of course we'll do that, but I meant after."

He walked out to get a trash can for the broken knickknacks and things. A few of his newest inventions had been shattered, but Tails knew he would be able to replicate them. Possibly make them better.

"You never answered me," she commented, dumping the contents of her dust pan into the trash.

"That's because I haven't figured something out yet."

Her eyes flickered with curiosity. "Could I help?"

He watched her sweep another pile into the dust pan. "No, I think I just came up with the answer."

"Oh." He watched her ears droop a bit in disappointment, then perk again. "Does that mean you know what we'll do after we check on Amy and Knuckles?"

"Yep." She started putting the things away, wanting to press him, but thought it would be rude too. "I'm going to bring you back here, than I'm going to go somewhere," he finally said.

She turned her head and an ear smacked her face. She flipped it behind her head and stared at him. "Where?" _Oh, don't leave me again, Tails. Please don't._

He grinned at her. "It shouldn't take me very long to--" He broke off when the phone started ringing. He lifted it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Man, that was a close call."

"Hey Sonic, where are you guys?" When Cream gave him an expectant look, Tails hit the speaker button.

"--on the third floor," Sonic was saying.

"Say that again? I didn't hear you."

Sonic sighed, rolling his eyes. "Shadow led me to some hospital, and I have no idea what it's called or anything. I just know we're on the third floor. They're making us," there was a pained pause, "wait."

Tails laughed at Sonic's tone. "Well, ask Shadow what the name of the hospital is, and Cream and I will be there as soon as we can."

"Yeah, that's why I called. Don't come out here, pal. Just worry about Eggman and those bears, all right? Get rid of them or call…someone…What are those guys called? You know, the ones that can't do their jobs, so we have to? What are they called? Uh…The police?"

Cream giggled and Tails grinned widely. _Good ol' Sonic…He'll never change._ "Okay. We can handle that, I think."

"Great, thanks. Oh, man, that was quick! Wait…" Sonic ears flattened on his head. "It's bad news when doctors come that fast with news, isn't it? Crap. I'll be over when I can, Tails, so don't have sex until I leave there, okay? I don't wanna run in on you guys."

Tails rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'll remember that. See ya, Sonic." He hung up and glanced at Cream. "Now, I know I'm hard to resist, but you heard Sonic."

She laughed and hugged him. "I'll try to restrain myself, I promise."

He kissed her, quickly so as not to get distracted. He had to call someone that could take the bodies away. But her eyes caught him and dragged him closer to kiss her again, deeper. When he forced himself to pull back, they were both breathless and panting. "Fine, I'll admit it. You're the one that's hard to resist." He kept an arm around her as he dialed another number.

_Later…_

Tails watched the ambulance drive away. He had been congratulated, Sonic had been given his usual praise, Shadow had been sighed wistfully over by the young female hedgehog that had helped zip Rocks' body into a black body bag, quite a few set of eyes had been filled with worry over Knuckles and Amy, and Cream had been proposed to. Lucky for the black cat who had done it, Cream had laughingly turned down the offer before Tails tackled him.

Now Cream walked out of the workshop that she was already thinking of as home, carrying a mug. Tails took it, sipping the coffee she'd made. Cream giggled when he winced after scalding his tongue. "What were you thinking about?" she queried.

"What just happened, actually. If that cat, whatever his name was, hadn't left you alone…" he trailed off, unsure just what horrible thing he would have done.

"Oh, I think he was sweet." She giggled when his eyes flashed with jealousy. She leaned close until their lips were a breath apart. "Just so you know, his name was Josh." She kissed him before he could say anything and he nearly dropped the mug.

They pulled apart when someone behind them coughed. "I got here just in time," Sonic noted.

Tails set his mug on a small table that he and Cream had brought outside with a laugh. "I'm not kissing you, though."

Sonic crossed his eyes. "Don't even wanna think about that." He uncrossed his eyes, grinning widely. "Ever."

"So there's good news?" Cream wondered, excited by his look.

He gave her a thumbs-up and a wink. "Looks like they'll both be fine. Knux fractured a few ribs and stuff, but that's about it with him. He broke a wrist, too, trying to push the thing off himself, I bet."

She clasped her hands together. "What about Amy?"

"Eggman just shocked her a few times. She'll be just fine too, but the doctor's said that she probably won't need a heck of a lot of sleep anymore. She should be able to go days without it, and all that electricity may have increased her speed."

Tails shook his head. "Getting that much electricity in her body was not a good thing, though. She could've died…"

Sonic scratched the back of his head with a sheepish look. "She did…She was dead when I ran in there, but…"

"But you saved her," Tails finished, grinning. "Why would you do that if you don't care about her?"

Sonic muttered to himself. "I wasn't about to let her die, Tails. God. She's my friend, okay?" He narrowed his eyes at Tails' smug grin. "But that's all she'll _ever_ be. Got it?"

Tails looked at the sky, shaking his head. "Right, yeah, I got it."

"Hey, you know once Amy and Knuckles are better, she's going to throw you a party?"

Cream giggled. "It's Amy, after all. She likes parties."

"She _always_ has," Tails remarked, cerulean eyes rolling.

Sonic chuckled at them. "Yo, Tails, you mind if I let everyone know you're back? It's the only way to really explain why Eggman's dead and how he came to be that way."

Tails fidgeted a little, tails twining together, than breaking apart. "I…" He sighed at the encouraging look Cream gave him. "Yeah, go ahead, Sonic. But I need to do something, so tell them not to come by, okay?"

Sonic wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Right. _Do_ something."

"Hey! I didn't mean it like that!" he argued, but the blue blur had already taken off. Tails scratched his head, shrugging a little. "Well, at least he'll keep them away."

"Until tomorrow at least."

He grinned at her. "Yeah…Then I need to really hurry." He brought her against him and laid his lips on hers to give her a sweet kiss. "I'll be back really soon, okay?" She nodded, leaning against the door jamb as he took off.

_Later…_

Cream answered the bedroom phone with a cheery 'hello,' only to receive an angry retort from her step-father. "What the hell are you doing, moving in with Tails? He just got back!"

"Sonic told you?" she asked, laughing lightly.

"You're damn right he told me! Now, I want you to--_Ouch_!" he shouted, breaking off.

Cream listened to the small scuffle on his end and laughed when her mother spoke. "Hello, sweetie. I'm glad you weren't hurt in all of that fighting. It's good that Tails kept you with him," she added, giving Vector a telling look. "Now, you don't worry about anything Vector says about you coming home."

"Mother…" She wrapped the phone cord around her hand. "I am home," she decided to say.

Vector watched Vanilla's features soften with a long sigh. "I'm so glad, baby." She glanced at Vector when he put his hand on the phone. "Here's Vector again. I love you, Cream."

"Love you too, Mother. Hello, Daddy."

He let out a long sigh at the title. The first time she had called him 'daddy' he had nearly passed out in shock and joy. "Cream…Whatever ya jes told yer mother, it made 'er happy. She was worried, ya know."

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry for that."

"Good," he muttered, at a loss for words.

"I love you too, Daddy," she whispered, understanding.

He blew out a breath, relieved. "Okay. Jes don't let Tails push ya 'round, or the Chaotix'll get 'im for ya."

"He would never hurt me, but I'll remember that. Besides, I'm only a train ride away from you. You don't have to worry about me, I promise." Cream looked up as Tails entered the room, grinning madly. "I have to go. Goodbye."

"See ya, Cream." Vector stared at the phone after hanging it up. "Okay, so we don't have to worry 'bout 'er."

Vanilla smiled at him. "Yes, we do."

Vector sighed. "Yeah, I know, but it sounded good."

Cream laughed when Tails hugged her against him. "Guess what," he murmured against her ear.

"I can't think of anything," she replied.

"I'll give you a hint then. It's a gold band with a diamond in it."

Her eyes widened with shock and her breath came out shaky. "You're going to…"

"Oh yeah. And you can't say no to me, Cream. I'd convince you using my good looks." He nuzzled her ears lightly when she wrapped her arms tighter around him. "You have to let me go so I can get the box out."

She lessened her grip, swallowing. "I don't know why I'm nervous about this…"

He grinned at her, reaching into one of his pockets. "That makes two of us. Now," he started pulling the little box out, "you want me to do this the traditional way?"

She nodded, than quickly shook her head. "I don't know," she admitted.

"Your movements looked like a 'yes' at first, so I'll go with that." He dropped to one knee and flipped the box open. It was beautifully classic and simple. A thin gold band centered with a square cut diamond that was small enough not to be gaudy, but big enough to shock her.

Cream's strangled gasp made Tails smile smugly. "I knew it was perfect for you." Her eyes filled with tears and his face softened. "Will you marry me, Cream?" he asked, taking her hand.

Her mouth trembled open, head nodding wildly. "Yes," she whispered.

"Great." He hopped to his feet, sliding the ring onto her finger. "Now Amy'll really have a reason to party," he said, pulling her closer.

She tipped her head back to stare into his eyes. "Yes, I suppose she will."

He scooped her into his arms and dropped her onto the bed. "Yeah, but we can party now." He captured her lips with a laugh.

* * *

_**A/N:**_

All right!

I hope you enjoyed it!

The SonAmy will be up soon!

Although it won't go up until I've had 20 reviews on this one

I want to know what you people think!!!'

And it'll be placed as the second chapter to this, so please, if it's being added to your favs, kindly add it to your alert list as well

:3

Thank you!

Byez!


	2. Charged

_**A/N:**_This is the SonAmy. If you don't like that, don't read this. The disclaimer from "_Serendipity_" still holds true.

And now that I've _finally_ gotten twenty reviews on _Serendipity_ I can continue!

Yay!

_**Charged**_

Her eyes slipped open to reveal a blurry room. She started to move her hands to rub her weary eyes, but could only move one. She felt something prick her when she tried to move the other. She rubbed her eyes using the single hand and stared around her, blinking rapidly.

_A…A hospital? What am I doing here?_ She jolted when someone touched her arm. Her head snapped up to look into a pair of emerald eyes, ones she recognized very well. "Sonic? What happened?"

The blue hedgehog let out a sigh. "You don't remember?"

"No, I…Eggman had me, I remember that." She was confused now. Normally Sonic didn't look this worried over anything. Especially her. "I don't remember anything else…"

"Okay…" He sighed again, relieved that she was all right, annoyed that he was so very relieved. Now that she was awake he wanted to run. Leave her and run until he forgot what had happened…

The only good thing that had come out of everything was that Tails had returned after years of hiding. He and Cream had already made wedding plans. Amy had been asleep so long…Even Knuckles had already woken up, bitching to the world. The ribs he'd snapped and a broken wrist were keeping him away from Angel Island, as more than one doctor had forced him to remain at the hospital. With Sonic's help, of course. But that had been a week ago, and Amy was just awakening herself.

Amy stared up at him. "How long have I been here?" she asked.

Sonic shook his head, coming back to the present. "About a month…" He watched her eyes widen, her mouth tremble open in shock. "I guess you want an explanation and all that?"

"And all that, yes," she replied, once she regained her bearings. "The last, _last,_ thing that I remember is being hooked up to some machine and then getting…It felt like I was being electrocuted." She looked at him closely when he winced, trying to find some sign of her being wrong. She found none. "I…I _was_ electrocuted? That…Why would he do that?!"

Sonic fisted a hand and just stared at it, concentrating on his breathing. "You powered his ship…Tails explained it to me, but…It was too technical and crap for me to understand."

She started to sit up, really shocked now. "Tails?! Tails is back? But…But since when? Sonic, when did he get back?"

Sonic groaned. "Amy, you know I don't like to give all those explanations and stuff! Stop asking all these questions!"

The pink hedgehog started to cross her arms, but winced at the IV. She despised needles…and having one in her hand was very uncomfortable and eerie for her. She settled for a threatening glare. "Please just tell me, Sonic."

He crossed his arms and looked away from her huffing silently. "No way." He did not like seeing her here. Pale. Injured. Damn it, he was supposed to keep her safe. He had always kept her safe. At least, she had never been knocked unconscious…He had always gotten her out before that could happen. But this time…

His focus returned to Amy when she began speaking. "I remember…I remember screaming, and then…Nothing. It was strange…One minute I was in so much pain, and the next it was gone. One minute I was staring at a wall in front of me, and the next I was staring at myself. I…I died, didn't I?"

His head snapped up at the quiet question, his eyes locked onto hers. His breathing became heavy and his eyes flashed angrily. "Yes." Amy shrank back, afraid of the look he was giving her. She shrank back farther when he leaned closer, gripping the side rails of her bed. "You _died_, Amy." He jerked back and started to pace. He wanted out…Now. He didn't want to remember that…But it came anyway. The memory surged through him against his will…

_**Flashback…**_

Sonic glanced up at the familiar sound of its engine, and grinned. He smirked at Shadow. "And _you_ called him a traitor."

Shadow glared at him. "Shut-up, Sonic." Both hedgehogs looked over at a loud snapping sound to see Knuckles break the metallic arm. He had continued punching it, not wanting Tails' workshop to get destroyed.

In the cock-pit, Tails was studying the controls, reacquainting himself with them. Luckily he was able to figure them out quickly, and grinned to himself as he pressed a small blue button. "Sonic, can you hear me?"

The small device that Tails had inserted into Sonic's ear years before crackled a little before working. Sonic grinned widely and winked at Shadow. "You bet I can hear you, pal. Haven't seen the Tornado 2 in a real long time." As he spoke, he had to dodge more and more metallic arms. They kept swatting him away from where he had heard Amy's voice. Well, Amy's scream.

Shadow put more bullets into Eggman's machine, but the already tough exterior transformed into something even stronger. Eggman laughed cruelly. "This entire machine is programmed to Amy's brain!" he announced. "When she feels threatened, stronger shields get placed around it! Muahahahaha!"

Sonic cursed. "We'll get her out, Eggman! You've already tried something like this! We'll convince her to calm down!"

"Sonic?" he heard in his ear.

"Huh?" He blinked, still unused to Tails after all this time. "Crap, what is it, Tails?"

"I hacked into the main frame of his machine, and I found a visual image of Amy…" He trailed off, not wanting to reveal just what he had just seen.

"What's going on, pal?" When Tails did not respond, Sonic swallowed and decided to press a metaphorical button. "I'm getting' a serious case of déjà vu, here. You gonna tell me or are we gonna have a repeat of what happened last time?"

Tails let out a long sigh and glanced back at Cream. "Tell him," she whispered. She had seen what was happening too, and did not like it.

"Okay, Sonic. He's torturing Amy. It looks like he's running electricity through her body--Shit! There it goes again!"

Sonic jerked in pain when a scream came through. It cut off quickly though and Tails apologized for not having the mute on in time. "No problem, Tails. Now I know that we really need to get through to her." He yelled to Shadow. "Hurry up and break through! Knuckles, how ya doin'?"

"Just peachy," the Echidna grunted, narrowly avoiding getting sliced in half by and oncoming arm.

Tails growled and fired a missile, snapping a group of arms off, than slamming into the side of Eggman's craft. The fox grinned as saw it created a large dent in it. He fired another, blasting a hole into the craft.

Sonic bolted in. He ran through, searching for the pink hedgehog. When he saw her, his heart stopped. Her body was attached to a large frame, her ankles and wrists in chains, an odd helmet atop her head. He slammed into the pipe attached to the helmet, snapping it. Next he broke through the chains on her hands and feet. He pulled her down and almost started running, but froze. Something was wrong.

He pressed a thumb against her neck, searching for a pulse. He found none. He set her on her back, resting a hand on her chest. He waited for that rise and fall of it that meant breathing, but felt none. "Amy? Oh, shit!"

He racked his brain for information. The process that had to be performed. CPR. That's what she needed, but…How did one do CPR? He closed his eyes. _Come on, Amy…What do I do?_

His eyes snapped open when he remembered. He pressed his lips to hers and breathed into her. Then he pressed his hands to her chest and pumped. "Come on," he pleaded. "I won't lose you!"

She gave a weak cough, and Sonic could feel her pulse and her breathing start up again. "Thank Christ," he murmured.

He came out with her, unconscious in his arms, a few seconds later. "Nice job, Tails. Now let's really mess this thing up." Tails turned a few dials, and flicked a few switches. "I'm aiming for the control station," he stated.

"What?! That'll kill Eggman!"

"I know, Sonic, but--"

"You don't have to kill him to win!" Sonic interrupted.

Shadow glanced at the hedgehog, curious. "Just what is Tails saying?"

"He's going to aim one of those missiles at Eggman!"

Shadow waited a beat. "And the problem would be?" When Sonic just glared at him, Shadow shrugged. "It's not as if anyone would miss him, Sonic."

Knuckles groaned and managed to snap another arm off. He flung it at the craft, and shouted at the two hedgehogs. "If you're not gonna help me, I'll quit!"

Shadow growled and switched the ammo in his gun. The weapon was specially designed for him, so that he did not have to carry more than one. He aimed for the cock-pit on Eggman's machine and fired. The glass shattered, and Eggman gave a startled yelp.

Sonic stared at him then looked up at the Tornado 2 when Tails began talking. "Sonic, you know if we let him get away this time he'll create something even more dangerous."

"If he hurt Amy this bad this time, how much worse will the next machine be?" Cream added. She may not have been overly pleased with the idea of killing someone, but she understood why it was necessary this time.

Still, Sonic hesitated. "What do you think, Knuckles?"

"I say we get the bastard out of our fur, and bury him!" he shouted, snapping another arm. He jumped and threw it, but his landing was wobbly, as he was exhausted, so he overbalanced and fell. Before anyone could react, he was under a metallic arm.

"Knuckles!" Sonic shouted. He could not do anything since he was holding Amy, so yelled for Shadow to help him. The hedgehog put his gun away and ran for the Echidna. He tried, but could not get the arm up.

"Damn it, Sonic! Let me kill him so I can take control of that craft!" Tails screamed.

Tense seconds passed as Sonic thought about his options. He sighed, realizing that he did not have any. "Do it," he muttered.

"Are you sure?" Cream asked. She gave Tails a small smile when he glared at her.

Sonic stared at Shadow, still struggling to raise the arm Knuckles was pinned under, than darted for the cock-pit Eggman was in. He laid Amy on the ground and stared hard at Eggman. "Get that arm off Knuckles. Now!"

Eggman laughed. "Why would I help that fool? He's caused me nothing but grief! So have you, and all of your friends!"

Sonic sighed. "Sorry, Eggman, but those'll be your last few sentences." He lifted Amy and darted out, Eggman shouting how he would never die. "Kill him!" Sonic shouted, sprinting over to help Shadow and Knuckles. He risked setting Amy down, but did not go more than a few inches from her to help Shadow lift the arm. When it started sinking into the ground, Sonic started panicking. "What's taking so long, Tails?"

The boy did not answer, panicking himself as he fought for control of the plane. "Eggman's got a hold of me!" He grunted with the effort of turning the missile control. He had one left and Eggman was trying to use it on Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles. Cream hurriedly unbuckled her seat-belt and wrapped her hands around the control, helping Tails turn it. The second they had it aimed for Eggman, Tails fired.

Tails and Cream watched the missile hit Eggman dead-on and drag him to the back of the craft where it exploded. The heavy armor insulated the explosion so that it did not even faze Sonic and Shadow. Tails hastily hacked into the main frame and took over the controls. He lifted the arm off Knuckles, nearly knocking into the hedgehogs with it in his haste.

Shadow jumped into the small hole and lifted Knuckles, running off to get him help. Tails landed the plane as Sonic followed, carrying Amy.

_**End Flashback…**_

Sonic stared at Amy now. The girl was giving him a curious look, so he stopped pacing. "Tails and Cream are getting married as soon as you're allowed to leave and are feeling better. We all know you'll throw them some party, and everyone's looking forward to it. Knuckles got hurt pretty badly in that last fight with Eggman, but he's about to be released. He's gonna go back to Angel Island, but that's no surprise. See ya later, Amy."

Then he was gone.

She stared after him, holding back tears. '_Everyone's looking forward to it?' Does 'everyone' include you, Sonic?_

_**Later…**_

Amy walked out of the hospital, grateful that the doctors had given her some information. _Sonic _really_ saved my life this time…_ She turned down a street, walking easily, absorbing her surroundings. She'd been informed of quite a few things, including the reason why she felt so very awake.

"All of the electricity that flowed through your body left a few effects, Miss Rose," she'd been told. "You will never have to sleep again. Oh, the occasional nap of course, but nothing longer than five minutes and as rare as once a month, or even less."

"Really? Wow! So, you said a few effects. What else is there?" she'd asked, amazed.

The doctor, a kind old gray cat, had hesitated over the next bit. "Well, dear, it seems that your speed has also increased. Not quite to Sonic's level, but very close. It's highly possible that you'll be able to step on his heels if our judgment is correct."

Amy smiled to herself. _No wonder Sonic was so testy earlier… He's just mad because I'm going to be fast! Oh…That stupid hedgehog… Now I have to go see Tails and Cream; I want him off my mind! _And_ I want to see Tails!_

_**Soon…**_

Amy stared at Tails' old workshop. It was odd…Coming here after so long. She wondered if he'd changed at all…

The door opened and a rabbit darted outside, laughing. "Amy!" she shouted, throwing her arms around the pink hedgie, her oldest friend.

"Cream!" someone hollered. "She _just_ got out of the hospital!"

Cream let go immediately, blushing. "I'm so sorry, Amy! I'm just so glad to have you here and okay! I was so scared!" She gripped Amy's hands, smiling softly. "I suppose someone already told you the news about Tails and I?"

Amy nodded. "Sonic did, actually. This morning, when I woke up."

"Sonic?" Tails asked, surprised.

Cream gave him a look that had the fox smiling widely and Amy narrowing her jade eyes. "What's the big deal about that?"

"Nothing, Amy. Tails is just surprised that Sonic would be at the hospital." She waited a beat, letting her lips curve into a large smile. "Especially since Sonic just told us that he hasn't seen you in days." The girl let that statement hang as she gauged Amy's reaction.

It was obvious that she didn't quite understand what Cream was implying, just as it was obvious when she finally did realize the meaning. _That jerk! _Amy thought._ He lied just because he doesn't want to admit that he cares about me enough to check on me when I'm in the hospital!_ Her eyes widened, shocked. _That means he DOES care about me!_

Cream giggled, able to read Amy's expressions easily. She took Amy's arm and tugged her towards the house. "I have _so_ many things to tell you Amy! Oh, you just won't believe how many things have happened! Tails and I are engaged, and—" She broke off when the fox grabbed her hand, twirling her into his arms. He rested his lips on hers, and Cream could feel his smile. She leaned into the kiss with a smile of her own.

Amy watched them, unable to rid herself of the envy rising within her. She was witnessing a kiss of two people, madly in love and not likely to ever stop feeling the emotion for one another. This was what she wanted Sonic to feel for her: Undying love. Exactly what she felt for him…

Cream took a step back, breathing heavily. She was unaware of anything but Tails, until he winked at her and took off towards his newly constructed workshop. It had been built separate from the old one, which Tails and Cream were rapidly turning into a home. "You can swoon if need be, since Amy's here to catch you," Tails called.

Cream shook her head, ears flopping cutely. "I'm not going to swoon," she murmured, but she did lean against a wall, a hand resting on her rapidly thumping heart. "How, I wonder, does he send my head spinning like that after a _kiss_?"

Amy smiled, but it reflected self-pity rather than joy for her friend. "I wish I knew, Cream. I really do…"

_**Later…**_

Amy smiled softly to herself, pushing the door to her home open. Cream and Tails were obviously happy together, just as they always had been. She was so glad that Tails had come back! She smiled wider, thinking about how glad she was that Eggman was dead, too.

She did a quick boogie into her kitchen. She found herself hungry after hours of planning a party with Cream's help and then running home.

She laughed. _I guess I know why Sonic's always so hungry!_ she thought. _All that running..._

It wasn't tiring, she found, but exhilarating! And she was loving the feeling!

She quickly ate a sandwhich, leaning over the sink to catcha any extra crumbs, then ran up the stairs to change her clothes. She bolted back down and threw up her hands, giggling and twirling in place.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Amy stopped spinning and stared at the intruder, smiling widely. "Oh, Sonic! I was running!"

He scowled. "That looked more like spinning to me."

"Earlier." Her smile faded slightly. "I was running earlier." Her smile lost its glow. "Are you upset that I can run almost as fast as you?"

"No!" he answered quickly, a little _too_ quickly.

Now her smile was completely gone. "I'm sorry," she murmured.

"It's not your freakin' fault that Eggman pumped electricity into you, got it? It's mine!"

"How is it your fault?" she countered, walking towards him, hand outstretched.

He took a step back. "Just forget it. It doesn't matter, okay? I'm outta here." He turned and started running off.

Shocking both of them, Amy managed to catch up and snag his arm. "How is it your fault?" she demanded after a moment of stunned silence. She could hardly believe she'd managed to catch up to him!

He jerked out of her grip, also rather shocked by her speed. "I told you to forget about it, okay?"

"No! You should know by now that I'm stubborn, Sonic! Tell me why you're blaming yourself. I was just watching the waterfall and Eggman snatches me. Please, tell me _how_ that is your fault in _any_ way!"

He said nothing.

"Sonic, tell me."

Instead of answering, he asked, "Why were you at Mystic Ruins that day anyway?"

She shrugged. "Because I was visiting Big and Froggy." She slid her hand around his arm again. "Now that I answered your question, I expect you to answer mine."

"Why do you need to know?"

"Why are you avoiding the question?"

"Why are you asking it?"

"Why can't you just answer?"

"Why are you asking so many questions?"

"Why aren't you answering any of them?"

"Why should I?"

"Why won't you?"

"Does it matter?"

"Why shouldn't it matter?"

"Will you shut-up?"

"Will you answer me?"

He gripped her waist and jerked her up so that they were eye-level. "Why don't you make me?"

A bit startled by his actions, she tightened her grip on his arm and grabbed the other one. "Why are you being so stubborn?"

"Why are you?"

"Haven't you realized that _I'm_ always stubborn?"

"Why haven't you realized that I am?"

"Why are you just asking me what I ask you?"

He gave her a quick shake, annoyed. "Why are you asking stupid questions?"

"If you're asking the same ones, doesn't that mean _you're_ asking stupid questions?"

"Will you stop turning things around on me?"

"Will you just answer the original question?!"

He yanked her against him, emerald eyes snapping with anger. "What if I don't remember the original question?"

"What if I call you stupid because of that?"

He opened his mouth, and then he realized how close they were. Quickly dropping her, he stepped back, snagging her arm before she could fall. "Leave me alone for once in your life, Amy."

She yanked her arm out of his grip and spun around. "I _will_ find out why you said it's your fault I got hurt, Sonic the Hedgehog!" She ran off feeling hurt and angry.

Sonic watched her through narrowed eyes. "Yeah, whatever," he muttered, turning to run in the opposite direction.

"Why do women ask stupid questions?" he asked, ten minutes later.

Wise enough not to answer when Sonic was ranting, Tails continued tightening a tiny bolt on his newest computer model. If all went according to plan, he'd soon be able to attach this computer to his watch.

Sonic just went on, nearly oblivious to the fox's presence. "I mean, Christ! You say one thing you don't mean to, _one_, and they jump all over it! What the hell is up with that?"

He started to pace, unable to stay still after five minutes. "All I said was that it was my fault that Eggman killed her, and she's goes bananas!" He glanced over at the sound of clanging metal. He watched Tails scramble to pick up the screwdriver he'd dropped. "What's _wrong_ with you?"

"Since when do you blame yourself for Amy getting captured?" he asked, incredulous. "All the other time's she's been caught you blame _her_. You're always calling her a silly little girl for getting seized by Eggman. What's with this one-eighty?"

"Tails, all the other times she didn't get killed. If I hadn't held you back from firing I could've gotten to her before that happened."

"But you brought her back, Sonic." For all his scientific knowledge, Tails couldn't, and never had been able to, figure this particular hedgehog out. At least when it came to Amy he'd had some footing with him. Apparently, that footing had become slippery. Tails shook his head and got back to working. "I really don't understand."

He stopped pacing long enough to stare at Tails. "That's because you've got your girl," he muttered. "You've always had yours…You just took off too damn soon."

"I don't like to think about my leaving." _Or what I did while I was gone._ He set the screwdriver down to give Sonic his full attention. It was probable that he'd be able to figure out Sonic's situation out better if he really focused on the hedgehog. "And you're changing the subject."

"So what? If I don't wanna talk about her, who cares?"

Tails let out a sigh. Maybe killing Eggman wasn't the best thing to have done… Sonic had changed some since then. It sometimes seemed as if the hedgehog had gone a little crazy. And Tails was beginning to think that the constant worry – and the preceding denial of that worry – wasn't helping Sonic's state-of-mind.

Using his tails for balance, the fox leaned back. "I didn't say that you had to talk about her. I just pointed out that you changed the subject."

Sonic's ear twitched on a long sigh of his own. "Look, I'm sorry, pal. I've just got a lot of energy and nothing to use it on."

"It's okay." He scratched his ear, still feeling confused. "But why is it your fault that Amy…uh…got hurt?"

Sonic gave him a long look. "That's what Amy asked me…"

"When?"

"When she…" He shrugged, crossing his arms defensively. "I went by her house a little while ago, just to check on her. It's not a big deal..."

_Touchy subject_, Tails thought and decided that he should be the one to change the subject this time. "She tell you when the party is?"

Sonic let his eyes slide closed. "We kinda…argued, so no."

Tails grinned. "How can you 'kind of argue?'"

The Blue Blur opened his eyes to slits. "Shut-up, smart ass. So when's the stupid party?"

"You'll arrive late if I tell you the right time, so I'll say that it starts at five this Saturday. It's at Amy's place, of course."

"Of course," Sonic muttered, making Tails chuckle. "I should just arrive at five, just to spite you."

"You could, but you'll forget by Saturday."

"It's Wednesday. I can remember something for a couple days."

"Sonic, I could remind you of something an hour before, and you'd still forget. It's the way you're programmed."

"Yeah, okay. Not everything's a machine, Tails." He blew out a breath, grinning at his old friend. "Hey, I gotta go somewhere. See ya 'round," he told him, turning away.

"Yeah. Saturday at five o'clock. Amy's place."

Casting a last glance at the fox over his shoulder, Sonic rolled his eyes and ran out.

Circles. He was good at those. In seconds, he lapped the planet once, then twice, then a third time just for good measure. He skidded to a stop in front of a cart in some city and got a chili dog. Scarfing it down quickly, he darted off elsewhere.

He ran for 24 hours straight afterwards…

Grinning to himself he shot across water. He hated swimming in the stuff, but running over it wasn't swimming by any means. Ducking his head to really start blazing, he let out a laugh and reached land.

He had no idea where he was. No idea what he was running through or past. Colors blurred, sound beyond the wind swirling around him didn't exist. He saw nothing but the path ahead, the flash of his own feet as they pounded in front of him.

Speed. Running. They were his drugs. Wind lashed at his face, parting for him as he made his own breeze. His adrenaline pumped fiercely, pulsing through him. His own dust flew past him, unable to keep up. He was the only one who could feel this. It was a freedom that was his and his alone.

Not even Shadow. No, Shadow may have had the speed, but he could never compete with Sonic in feeling. Sonic and Sonic alone could feel the mental high that running brought. Whenever he was still, he craved the movement, the freedom, the sheer ecstasy that came from putting one foot in front of the other at the speed of sound.

Nearly there, he thought. _Nearly there._

It was a chant. His chant. No one knew what he was running towards, not even him, but he knew there was something. He was running towards something important and he could feel it. He could feel it coming closer.

_Nearly there. Nearly there._

_So close. Just out of reach…_

Then the dirt was in his face and he was skidding forward through it for several feet. He stood up, coughing and brushing himself off. "What the fuck was that?!" he shouted. Only two people had ever managed to trip him up: Eggman and--he turned--Shadow. "Damn it, Shadow! What the hell was that for?"

The black and red hedgehog glanced over at him without responding.

Sonic took a step forward. "Well?"

"I felt like it."

"You…" Sonic's eye twitched in annoyance. "You _felt_ like it? You tripped me because you _felt_ like it?"

Shadow didn't so much as blink at the fury on Sonic's face. "Yes."

"Damn it…Couldn't you have done it later?"

Shadow studied the blue hedgehog closely. "Why would that have mattered?"

"Because I was almost…" He fisted his hands. "Nevermind…"

Shadow raised a brow. "Almost where?"

"Just forget I said anything, _faker_!"

"Hmph." His red eyes shifted as he moved closer to the cliff's edge that Sonic had nearly run over. The brainless blue hedgehog would have darted right over the edge if Shadow hadn't tripped him. "Why the devil should I?"

"Screw this." Sonic turned on his heel and ran off. He knew it would take a while for him to get the feeling back, but you never knew.

Finally giving up on it after nearly two hours, Sonic skidded to a stop. And found himself nose to nose with Amy. Her jade eyes were wide open and her lips had parted in surprise. He found the bags of groceries that she held were pressed against his stomach lightly. It struck him that if he hadn't stopped when he had, he would've plowed right into her, and would have knocked everything out of her hands without even noticing.

"Hi, Sonic." Her voice was slightly breathless, as if she'd just taken an long hike. "I'm glad that you stopped when you did. I would've really hated dropping all these things."

"Uh…Hey, Amy." He took a step back. "Are those things for the party?"

She smiled widely at him, nodding. "Yes, plus a few other things. Some of the stuff at my home expired."

He was slightly taken aback at how happy she was. _She bounced back as quickly as normal,_ he realized. "After a month, I guess that'd be true. So, uh…" He slid one of the bags out of her hands, surprising both of them. He swallowed. Okay…Why'd I do that…? "Tails told me when the party is and stuff."

"Oh…Well, that's good."

"Yeah…" They started walking towards Amy's house, each wondering why Sonic was walking with her. "I, uh…Tails told me an earlier time then what it'll actually be."

"So you won't be late?" she asked. He nodded, the look on his face annoyed enough to make Amy laugh. "You would think the fastest thing alive wouldn't be late for everything."

"Hey, what do I need a memory for with all you guys around to remind me of stuff?" he asked, chuckling. The whole talking to Amy thing wasn't as hard as he thought…When she wasn't all over him, anyway.

Over the time that Tails had been gone, Sonic and Amy _had_ talked together like this a few times. Heck, they'd even shared a few laughs. It had been easy those times too, but Sonic still refused to think that he was starting to care for her _that_ way. He'd avoided commitment this long, so why give up now? He scowled at the direction his thoughts were turning and, as a result of those thoughts, completely missed what she said.

"Sonic?" Confused at the sudden change in his expression she stopped and touched the back of his hand. "Sonic?" she asked again, louder this time.

He jerked to a stop and stared at her. _What the heck is _wrong_ with me? _"You wanna try running the rest of the way?"

Blinking at his sudden change of attitude, she shrugged. "I'm afraid that I'll drop something."

"It's easy not to. Here." He set his bag onto a nearby bench and came over to stand behind her. "All ya gotta do is…" He reached around her and tucked the top of her bag closer against her chest. "That. You're already bent over while you're running, so…"

He trailed off when she turned her head to look at him. Her face was very close to his, her lips a breath apart. All he had to do was lean forward and… "I'll be able to feel if anything starts coming out, right?"

_Something's coming all right…_ Appalled at his thoughts, he took a quick step back, nodding. "Yeah. Yeah."

She nodded, smiling. "Okay, then." She turned all the way around, shifting the bag more comfortably under her breasts. Sonic's eyes were drawn to the mounds as they were pushed up, his mouth going dry. He didn't see her narrow her eyes. "Sonic, are you looking at my breasts?"

His eyes snapped up and he took another step back. "No way! I just…I uh…" He swallowed, trying to rid himself of the lump in his throat. He cursed himself. _Come on, Sonic! Don't lose it, man. It's just Amy. Just 'cause you like her…Like her? No. No way. That was her deal. She likes me, not the other way around! I just want her, that's all. What?! No!_ He shook his head, desperate to get the thoughts out.

He bolted over to the bag he'd set down and came back to her, feeling uncomfortably exposed. Swallowing again, he kept his eyes trained on hers. "We should get these things to your house, Ames."

Giving him an odd look, she took off ahead of him. Surprised at how quickly she could gain speed, he ran after her.

And had to actually put some effort into catching up. He found that he only had to slow his usual pace a little bit to stay with her, and she wasn't even panting. She was…laughing! They were going too fast for him to hear anything, but he could tell by her expression that she was indeed laughing.

He picked up the pace and moved to run backwards, facing her. He grinned at her, nodding. He mouthed something to her. "This is way past cool."

Smiling, she nodded back. "I know!" she mouthed. "I love it!"

"Stop!" Her heels dug into the ground, and she nearly fell forward. She watched him almost fall back and giggled. He shrugged at her. "Normally, I'm not running backwards. I guess we'll have to work on your stops…"

She lowered her lashes and looked at Sonic through them. "We?"

Ignoring the clench in his gut, he nodded. "Yes. It's either me or Shadow. Since Shadow tripped me up today because he felt like it, I don't think I want him 'helping' you." Shrugging again, he moved towards the door. It opened easily, unlocked. "Do you ever lock this door?"

She smiled, following him inside. "Of course not." She jerked her head towards the kitchen. "In here please."

Looking around suspiciously, he followed her. He didn't want anyone creeping up on his girl. _My girl? Oh, hell no!_ He narrowed his eyes on her back. She wasn't his. He wouldn't let her be.

She turned and took a step back at the look he was giving her, bumping into the counter. "Sonic?"

Shaking his head, he set the bag he held next to the other one. "So you like running?" Furrowing her brow in confusion, she just looked at him. He sighed, scratching his ear. "I just can't keep my mind focused on anything today, that's all. So do you like running or not?"

Accepting what he said with ease, she grinned. "No, I love it!" Laughing, she turned and started putting things away. "There's just such a rush of feeling that's so amazing!"

He took her by the shoulders and turned her. "You can feel it? Describe it. Describe that feeling."

Closely studying the oddly intense look he gave her, she nodded. "Freedom. Pure, absolute freedom. Nothing but you and the path ahead." Sonic's mouth opened, but she interrupted him before he could say anything. "And…This might sound crazy, but it also feels as if I'm running towards something…Like, it's just out of reach, and if I keep going I'll get it."

He stared at her. No, he_ gawped_ at her. Jaw slack, eyes wide.

She placed a hand on either side of his face. "Are you all right, Sonic?"

She felt it. His heart started pounding hard and fast in his chest, knocking painfully against his ribs with each thump. He couldn't believe it. She felt it! Not completely aware of what he was doing, Sonic lowered his head and rested his lips on hers.

Her mind went blank. Completely and totally blank as he kissed her. It was a simple kiss, a mere brush of lips, but it shocked her straight to her toes. It was like being electrocuted again only much, much better.

Sonic closed his eyes and started thinking. _I'm kissing Amy Rose and I like it…Holy crap! No! I need to stop! _Her tongue slid across his lips, invitingly, tormentingly. _In a minute. I'll stop in a minute_, he thought. When her mouth opened, when his tongue met hers, he could no longer think.

On a groan, he changed the angle of his head to deepen the kiss. His hands slid from her shoulders to her waist, and their bodies pressed together.

She bobbed up to stand on her toes, letting out a soft moan. He reached for one of her legs and wrapped it around his waist, leaning closer. She let out a gasp at feeling his hardness prodding against her center, but the gasp was swallowed by him. She arched against him just to feel, and his groan was swallowed by her.

He began to let his hands roam now. Molding her body with his hands through the fabric of her dress, he let out an annoyed whimper. As he was reaching for the hem of her dress to remove it, his thoughts careened back to him.

Sonic tipped his head back, breaking the kiss. He found that he felt a stabbing emptiness the second he lost that contact and it shocked his dazed mind.

Just as dazed, Amy lowered her leg and leaned back, reaching her arms back to grip the counter sill. Her chest was heaving as pants made it through her still-parted lips.

Sonic took a step back at his next thought._ No, she can't be a new drug…She's just Amy! _

_Then why'd you kiss her?_ His mind argued.

_Because…because…_

"Sonic?" She spoke his name warily, worried about the wild look in his eyes. "Sonic?" she said again.

"Amy…When do you want to start--" He swallowed to rid himself of the lump in his throat. "When do you want me to start helping you with your stops?"

"I-I…" She glanced to her left to see the stove's clock. "This time tomorrow maybe?"

He looked at the clock too, blowing out a breath. "Okay…Okay 6:30 tomorrow. I'll be here."

Nodding, he took a step back, then another, until she was out of his sight. Then he ran. He had no idea where he was going, didn't care. He just had to get away from that emptiness. He stopped in front of Tails' workshop and was about to go in when he heard a giggle, followed by a "Tails, stop it! It's too early! Someone might come over."

Sonic could hear Tails chuckle. "Come on, Cream. Let's be naughty today."

Sighing, the hedgehog turned and began running again. Even if Cream did manage to get Tails to leave her alone, which was doubtable, the fox wouldn't want to talk. So he went to one place where he knew the guy would talk to him. If he was in a good mood that is…

On Angel Island, Sonic bolted for the Master Emerald. He wondered why Knuckles was even still guarding it…Not like Eggman was gonna steal it. And they hadn't seen Rouge since before Tails had even taken off, so Sonic doubted that she would take it either. "Hey, Knuckles!"

With a jolt, Knuckles lifted the giant emerald behind him and set the piece of paper he'd been staring at under it. "Whadda you want?"

Sonic stared at him for a minute. What _did_ he want? Certainly he didn't want to talk about… "I kissed Amy," he blurted.

Knuckles blinked and his jaw went slack. "You what?" he asked numbly.

"Yeah, and that's not the worst part."

Closing his mouth, the Echidna studied his friendly rival. Sonic looked dead scared…This could be interesting. "Yeah?"

"I actually…I liked it. And…" He looked down at his feet, mumbling the last bit.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "What did you just say?"

"I…it…" was all the guardian caught.

"Sonic, say it so I can hear you!" he barked.

Sonic winced, surprising the echidna. "Okay, okay. I want to do it again."

"Now I've heard everything," Knuckles muttered. Louder he said, "You kissed Amy Rose, and you want to do it again?" He received a weak nod from the hedgehog. "Who the hell are you, and what have you done with Sonic?"

Sonic laughed weakly. "I think someone switched part of my brain or something. Hell, before that I was ogling her breasts."

"…She has those?"

"What are you? Gay? Yeah, she has them!" _And I should know, seeing how they were right up against me…_ Remembering that had him shuddering visibly.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were thinking about doing more than just kissing her." Sonic didn't look him in the eye. "Well…Wow, okay. I'm gonna say one thing: It is about damn time."

Sonic's head snapped up and his emerald eyes locked on Knuckles' violet ones. "What!?"

"What, nothing. It's about time you stop dragging that girl's heart on the ground." He crossed his arms and sat back against the Master Emerald. "She may have used to be a crazed fan girl, but she hasn't been like that in awhile. I say she actually does love you."

"Well I say that's impossible!"

"Hmm…Go ask Tails then. Hell, ask Cream if you don't believe me." He closed his eyes then opened them again. "Why didn't you go there in the first place?"

"Tails and Cream were…ah…_busy_."

"Busy like you wanna be with Amy."

"Busy like you've never been!" was Sonic's comeback.

Knuckles slid his eyes closed on a soft smile. "You have no idea. Besides, you're not the only one with fangirls."

Sonic held up a hand. "Don't wanna know. Don't tell anybody about me an' Amy got it?"

"Coward."

"I'm not--"

"You're afraid of your feelings for Amy, aren't you? That makes you a coward." Unable to think of anything to say to that truth, Sonic turned and ran off. Knuckles sighed, looking at the sky. "And saying that makes _me_ a hypocrite…" He retreieved the slip of paper and stared at the woman on it. "A big ass hypocrite…"

_**The Next Day…**_

Amy sighed and sat down next to Cream. "Honestly, I have no idea _why_ he kissed me, he just…just _did_."

Cream took a sip of her ice water, smiling widely. "Right after you said you felt something when you ran."

"Yes…" Her brow furrowed and she sat back in her chair. "Running is his favorite past-time…You think that what I feel is what he does? That amazing sense of freedom? That catch-me-if-you-can invulnerability?"

"Well?" She reached for a cookie, her third one, and bit into it. She'd been hungrier than normal for the past few days and had been having odd cravings…Luckily she hadn't caved in on some of the grosser ones. Just thinking about them made her want to throw-up. "This is Sonic, and that's just the way he acts. It makes sense, don't you think?"

Amy sighed. "But…But why would _that_ be any reason to kiss me? I'm sure plenty of people have…Oh my God! He's the fastest thing alive! Who could feel that besides him, me, and Shadow?"

"Well, I think it's wonderful that you…That you…" She swallowed, hard. It didn't help. "I'll…Oh my!" She scampered off for the bathroom.

Amy sat where she was for a second, shocked, then followed. She held Cream's ears back as the rabbit threw-up, having barely made it to the toilet in time. Once the shudders had subsided, Amy helped her back to the couch in her living room. "Cream, are you all right? Do you need me to call Tails?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine." Settling on the couch, she gave in to Amy's pleas and told her lifetime friend the symptoms and strange cravings that she'd been getting. "I can't really explain it…"

Amy's smile was wide and full of love. "Come back to the bathroom with me. I think I know exactly what's wrong with you."

Thirty minutes later both girls were squealing with joy. "I have to…Oh, my! Tails!" Bouncing around the house in sheer joy, Cream spun around and beamed at Amy. "Oh, Tails is going to be so excited!"

Amy laughed. "Cream, if he's half as excited as you, neither of you will get any sleep tonight. Or tomorrow."

She gave the pink hedgehog a puzzled look. "Why wouldn't we…" At the sly grin Amy gave her, Cream burst into giggles. "Oh, I see!"

Cream stayed for another hour, wanting to plan out just how to tell the fox her news. At twenty after six, she looked at the clock. "Oh! It's almost 6:30, Amy! I'm going to go tell Tails _now_!"

They walked to the door together, giggling still. "Will you tell Sonic the news for me, please?"

Amy laughed, nodding. "Of course I will! If he ever--"

"What news?"

Amy could only stare as the dust settled around the blue hedghog. She was amazed. Not only was he not late, he was a little bit early. She watched, dumbfounded, as Cream threw her arms around him. "It's the best news ever!" she gushed, and flew off as fast as she could.

"Hey, Amy." Studying her, he offered a small smile. "So, what's the big news?"

Her gawping expression turned to one of sheer joy. "Tails is going to be…" Letting tears that had been building inside her for the past hour fall, she began laughing. She hugged the doorjamb tightly to hold herself up through her laughing tears.

Sonic bit his lip and watched, awestruck by her. Shaking himself, he took her hand and led her inside. He sat on the couch and nestled her onto his lap, facing him. Her legs went around his waist and she was pressed against him, shaking with her laughter. He found he liked it. Very much so.

She didn't know it, but learning how to stop wasn't quite what he was planning on teaching her. He'd spent the past twenty-four hours debating with himself and had come to a conclusion that would hopefully rid himself of the tension that had built inside of him.

She rested her fisted hands on his chest, beaming ecstatically at him. "I can't believe that Cream's pregnant!"

His mouth opened, than closed as he stared at her. "You mean that Tails…"

"He's going to be a daddy."

Now it was his turn to be dumbfounded. "Holy-"

She leaned forward and gave him a hard kiss, still laughing. When she started to draw back, Sonic brought his hands up to frame her face, keeping his lips lightly touching hers. "Amy…"

She could feel him say her name as his lips brushed against hers. It sent little sparks dancing along her spine, making her shiver. She felt an odd sensation between her legs and gasped. She'd learned enough to recognize the feeling as being wet, but she'd never been that way. She wondered if Sonic could feel it…

He could. He could also smell it which made his own arousal heighten. "Amy, I want you," he murmured.

"I know…I think that's what I'm feeling, but…But I love you."

Sonic's eyes slid closed, and his heart started pounding almost painfully as he gently rubbed his lips against hers. "I know. I know, but I can't return that yet." The "yet" was out before he could stop himself and his eyes opened wide. What did that mean? That he did love her? Oh, God, did he? That meant commitment and chains and…

And he didn't care. His eyes went completely blank as that occurred to him, a reflection of his mind. He pressed his lips against hers gently, coaxing her to kiss him back. He broke off the kiss just before his last bit of control could slip away from him. "I need you…" he whispered, unable to stop the words.

She leaned against him, resting her head under his chin. A want she could ignore, deny. But a need… She shifted back, away, and heard him groan softly. "Is it my choice?"

His eyes locked on hers, appalled. "I'm not gonna rape you! Jesus, Amy!"

To settle his agitation, she kissed him again, sweetly. "I know…" Swallowing, she reached for his hand. "I'm scared," she murmured, pulling off one of his gloves.

"I…" He swallowed as well, watching as she pulled off his other glove.

"But I trust you," she whispered, dropping it to the floor with the other one.

With bare hands, he took the headband out of her quills and tossed it. Next he reached behind to undo the button at the back of her halter top. _Well, Sonic, looks like you're getting what you came for…A screw. Nothing important, right?_

_Wrong. Something important. Very, very important._ Dropping his hands away without unsnapping the button, he took her hands.

"Do you still wanna know..." This was going to be hard. _He_ still didn't know. "Do you still wanna know why...why what Eggman did to you is my fault?"

"Oh, Sonic..." So very often this hedgehog surprised her. To deliver whatever comfort she could, Amy leaned forward and kissed him gently. "It bothers you. I don't want you to say something that bothers you."

He shook his head. Even five minutes before, he would've been just fine with not telling her. But now this was very important to him. _She_ was very important to him. "Just tell me, Amy. Do you want to know?"

There was a stretch of silence as they watched one another. Amy was trying to puzzle out his sudden change of attitude, and Sonic was waiting for her answer. A part of him – the part that wanted to tear off her dress – wanted her to say "no, just fuck me".

But the other part – a bigger part o him – knew that it would be very wrong for him to take her when she didn't know how he felt, when she didn't understand him. She had claimed to be in love with him for years, but in his mind, the kind of love that she professed required understanding. Because of the way he'd always acted towards her, he knew she didn't understand him. He'd never let her get close enough to understand him.

He was so still, so quiet. Those things combined with the earnest look in his eyes worried her, but they also told her just how important her response would be to him. Taking her hands from his, she skimmed them lightly up his arms to frame his face. "Sonic, I already know why you blame yourself. And I think you're silly because of it."

This announcement confused him. "But yesterday-"

She shook her head, silencing him. "Yesterday I was upset and hadn't had time to think about it. Now that I have..." She smiled. "Sonic, you've devoted everything you have to protecting others, to preserving their freedoms. Since you started fighting Eggman, no one's ever been seriously injured, let alone killed.

"You couldn't save me in time and now you feel like devoting everything jsut wasn't enough." Slipping her hands back into his, she leaned forward and nuzzled, bringing as much comfort as she could. "But you brought me back. You _were_ enough. Sonic, you _are_ enough."

"I brought you back, yeah, but I still lost you. I couldn't rescue you in time."

"No, you _saved_ me. You took the time to revive me instead of counting your losses and leaving me behind."

"Amy, I would never-"

"I know. I know," she repeated, giving him a kiss that warmed him from the inside out. "What you haven't figured out is that I don't love you _because_ you're a hero, but in spite of it. You're caring a loyal, brave and clever, funny and sweet. But you're also stubborn and foolish, impulsive and wild, easily distracted and a bit immature."

The blank surprise in his eyes made her giggle. "Yes, Sonic, I somehow managed to find out that you're not perfect. Just so you know, I only really loved you _after_ I figured that out."

Bemused and a little hesitant, he lifted a hand to, as gently as possible, caress her cheek. "You're more amazing then I've ever given you credit for, and... Hell, Ames, knowing I care about you more then anyone else scares me."

It cost him. She knew it cost him so much to admit that and it moved her to tears. She blinked them back, knowing that if she cried, he would _really_ be scared. She shifted, arched against him, and nibbled his bottom lip until her groaned and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Touch me," she requested, pressing feather light kisses over his face. "Take whatever you need from me."

Her quiet words arrowed straight to his heart. He didn't struggle against the effect, opting to take her hands in his again. "You have to be sure."

"I am. I'm ready for you, Sonic." But she had started to tremble.

_Not as ready as she wants to be,_ he realized. Slow may not have been his usual tempo, but it had to be used to the best of his ability right then. And he wasn't about to take her on the damn couch, either.

Unaware that he was smiling, he stood. His hands went around her waist as her legs stayed around him. "I won't hurt you," he promised, walking to the bedroom. Trusting him completely, she only nuzzled his shoulder.

Settling her on the bed, he drew her close for a deep kiss. He tugged off one of her gloves as they kissed, then the other before dropping down to tug off her shoes. Prying his own off quickly, he stood back up and just looked at her.

Her jade eyes were wide and wouldn't leave his. The fear was obvious in them, as was the desire that was warring against it. Linking their fingers together, Sonic rested his brow against hers. "You can still say no."

"I won't. Sonic, I'm saying yes." She cruised her lips against his, unsure of what to do, afraid she'd mess this up for both of them. "Make love to me, Sonic. Please."

Nodding, he again reached for the button behind her neck. It unsnapped easily and the top half of her dress pooled around her waist. She started to reach her hands up to cover herself, but Sonic's held them at her sides.

He looked down freely, and his lips quirked at the sight of her simple cotton bra. Nothing fancy for his Amy. Feeling something snap at referring to her as "his" and not having the need to panic at that loss made his breathing hitch. Somehow he felt lighter, as if that snap had been a chain dropping away from him.

He let go of one of her hands to reach behind her back to unsnap the bra's clip. As he slid the straps off her shoulders and down her arms, he felt her body start to quake again. Pausing, he dipped his head to nuzzle her shoulder. By pressing light kisses across it and up to her lips and back again, he made her shaking stop, engulfing her with emotions that had nothing to do with fear.

When her breasts were freed, he slid his hands around them, squeezing gently. She gasped at the touch, eyes that had just started to close flipping wide open. The gasp became a moan when he slid his tongue over one taut nipple. She was whimpering when he switched slowly to the other, his tongue lingering in the valley between.

He laid her gently onto her back to pull the rest of her clothes away. Under this part of her dress he was again faced with simple, white cloth. But this was soaked. His eyes lit with excitement that, with a shudder, he forced himself to repress. He'd made it this far without losing control, so he could make it the rest of the way.

His tongue clamped between his teeth, he slowly drew the panties down, keeping his eyes on hers. Once that final barrier was removed, the scent of her hit him fully, and he couldn't help himself. He buried his face against her, inhaling madly. Her body jolted, his name bursting from her lips.

His own body shaking now, he slid his tongue inside her. She tensed and he could feel it. She closed around his tongue one, letting out a loud moan that just bordered on a scream. Shuddering once, he swished his tongue around her walls and pulled back. He knew he wouldn't be able to last much longer, was surprised he'd lasted this long. Control was a slippery line that he was very close to releasing.

He slid his tongue up her body, letting his hands pick up where his mouth had left off. When she slid over the first peak, he pressed his lips to hers to swallow her cry and positioned himself at her entrance. "Amy?" He waited until her eyes opened – they had darkened with passion, bringing him an extra thrill – before he began easing gently into her. "Tell me to stop and I will." It would kill him, but he would.

She nodded. "Keep going…" Her body was on fire, each nerve seemed alert and receptive to everything he did. Her eyes were on his. She was no longer afraid at all, but overjoyed and oh, so pleasured. She loved him so very much and each gentle brush of his fingertips reminded her why.

The pain started suddenly and she squeezed her eyes shut.

Seeing her distress, he dropped his head down and kissed her. "I'm sorry." The apology was murmured against her lips again and again as he slid all the way in, breaking the last of her barriers. He dipped his tongue inside her mouth and massaged her hips, willing her pain to subside quickly.

When those hips started to move, he drew in a sharp breath. He still had to go slow, he knew that, but it was so hard…He pulled out of her slowly and dropped back in, just as slow. His brain fogged as a low groan escaped his lips. Okay, so maybe it wasn't so hard...

He repeated the easy thrust again and again while she wriggled under him, lost to her own instinct. When she reared up, he pulled back, enjoying this so much more than he'd anticipated. She whimpered at the frustration, at the reaction his actions brought. He was taking her up gain, higher and higher until she thought she would burst.

When she finally released, her body went pliant and limp. She seemed to have lost the ability to move, so he sank deep into her. Something clicked and she arched back, taking him even deeper. They both rocked back and pounded together at the same time, this thrust just as slow as previous ones.

But suddenly, Sonic's resolve to go slow vanished, replaced by a need for speed. And Amy didn't stay still. Oh, no. She kept up, her fur slicked with sweat, her hands gripping his hips. As they picked up speed, he said her name over and over again with his lips on hers or her shoulders or her neck, everywhere. He couldn't catch his breath, but he had to say her name. Their eyes were locked on one anothers, even as their vision bluerred.

When he hilted her, she screamed his name, her hands slipping from his hips to grip the sheets as she exploded.

Sonic latched his hands onto hers and let himself go after her. Groaning out her name a final time, he collapsed atop of her.

_**Later…**_

Amy stroked Sonic's back, eyes closed, perfectly content. His quills didn't hurt her because he was just as relaxed. "I'll stop crushing you as soon as I can move again," he managed.

She would've laughed, but it seemed like too much effort. "I didn't expect it to be like that…"

He pressed his lips to her shoulder, unable to do much else. "It usually _isn't_ like that." Sighing, he shifted out of her and rolled onto his back, bringing her with him to reverse their positions.

She trailed a finger over his chest, curious. "It's isn't?"

He shook his head and closed his eyes, sinking into the soft bed. "No…" He hadn't slept since Wednesday, and as sated as he was feeling it would be easy for him to do so now.

"Is that a good thing?" she whispered, stroking his cheeks. She could see the slumber in his eyes and smiled. She'd never seen him sleep before.

"A very good thing; trust me…"

His breathing slowed and evened and she burrowed against him as he slept. "I do trust you…It's part of being in love with you."

_**The Next Morning…**_

Sonic slipped his eyes open and nuzzled Amy's ear. She muttered something unintelligible and he chuckled. Throughout the night they'd turned to each other, several times, until they'd finally fallen asleep in a comfortable spoon position. It was true that Amy no longer needed much sleep, but he'd been sure to exhaust her. Now, in the lazy morning light, he turned her body and slipped inside easily.

She opened her eyes, her body already throbbing. His eyes slipped open as he kissed her, picking up his pace. Smiling, she moved with him. They locked together, bringing each other to and over the peak.

Amy kissed his cheek several minutes later, still smiling. "I didn't think you'd still be here."

_I didn't think so either_, he thought. He never did stay. In fact, he'd even started to leave, but he'd made the mistake of looking at her again and hadn't been able to go. "I think I should now though. I've got a few things I need to take care of."

"Oh." She nipped his shoulder to hide her disappointment. "But I'll see you tonight at the party?"

He'd forgotten all about it. _Heh. Score one for Tails._ "Yeah, you'll see me. I'll _try_ not to be late, okay?"

"You don't even know the right time, Sonic. The only way you could really come late is if you don't show up at all."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." After rolling out of the bed, he tossed on his gloves and tugged his shoes on. He started to turn the doorknob when he looked back at her. His hand froze on the knob.

She was sitting in the center of the bed, the sheets pooled around her waist. Her quills were mussed from his hands and all she wore was a smile. He walked back to her. "Those few things can wait though."

She giggled and opened her arms to pull him close to her. "If you say so."

_**Later…**_

Grinning widely, Sonic darted towards the Master Emerald. He needed a favor from his gullible friend. "Hey, Knuckles!"

The Echidna glanced down, yawning. "What?" Quickly, he dog-eared the page of a well-worn copy of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Having this hedgehog tease him about his reading habits was definitely not something Knuckles wanted to experience.

"I need a favor."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh hell…" he muttered. Then he noticed an almost blissful look on Sonic's face. _Huh...Wonder what's up with him?_ "What's the favor?"

"You have any idea where I can find some rubies? And I think I'll need a diamond too."

He gaped at the hedgehog as that was the last thing he'd expected. "I…uh…muh?"

"Yeah. I made love with Amy."

Knuckles stood up. _Holy shit…Now I really have heard everything._ "You may look and sound like Sonic, but I don't think you're him…"

"You choose the stupidest times to be suspicious, you know that?"

"Okay, so maybe you are Sonic, but…Why do you need rubies and a diamond?"

"Heh. I'll tell you after you tell me what I need to know. Oh, do you remember what time that party is later 'cause I'm probably gonna be late."

"It's at, uh, 7:00."

Sonic stared at him for a minute. "Damn, Tails really did tell me an earlier time…"

"Crap…I probably should have said I didn't know then…"

"Yeah, you probably should have. But at least now I know I won't be as late as I thought." He flashed his famous grin. "And I think Amy'll forgive me. So…Ya gonna show me where those jewels are?"

_**Soon…**_

Sonic was running again. He had a pouch with the jewels he needed in it and a grin on his face. It widened as that feeling of being closer to whatever he was after came to him. And just as he was about to get it…

His face hit the dirt.

The bag flew out of his hands, the contents spilling out. He scrambled for them and spun around to see--who else?--Shadow. "Damn it! Why'd you do that? What? You felt like tripping me up again?"

"Of course not, you imbecile. I was going to ask if you're actually going to go to this _party _that Amy's hosting." His ebony arms crossed as he glared at his rival. "Now why are you carrying around jewels?"

"These gems and you are the reason I'm going to be late for the party that, yeah, I am going to." An eyebrow quirked as he studied Shadow's scowl. "Why?"

"I would rather not go…And if I'm making you late you may as well leave. I harbor no desire to talk to you right now."

"Gee, thanks," he said dryly. "Oh, you need to stop tripping me up. You've really got bad timing with that." He ran off before Shadow could question just what he meant by that.

He screeched to a halt right in front of the place he'd been looking for. A young human girl walked out, squealed, and ran back inside. "Papa! Papa! Sonic is here!"

Moments later a tall human walked out. He offered a callussed hand to the blue hedgehog, his pale green eyes shining. "'Ello there. 'Ow've you been Sonic?"

He grinned at the man's Cockney accent. "Life's great, Ollie. Trust me. So, you remember how I saved Ellie a few years ago?"

"Right, then. You've come to collect, 'ave you?"

"Yeah. I need you to make something for me out of some rubies and a diamond. You up for it?"

"That's it?" He waved his hand and walked inside. "Come on, then, Sonic. I'll fix ya up good an' proper like. When ya need it by?"

Following him in, Sonic didn't think his grin could get any wider. "I need it by 7:00."

"Seven? Why, lad, I may even 'ave a bit o' trouble wif 'at! If it's ennythin' as simple as a ring, then you may 'ave it by eight o'clock, but not before 'at! You'd best know, I'm a busy man an'-"

"And I saved your daughter from Eggman…I could've left her, being a busy guy myself."

The man winced. "All righ', all righ'. I'll work on it already! Jus' don't be expectin' it before eight o'clock! An' that's only iffen it's a ring, an' oo'ed you be givin' a ring to?"

Chuckling now, Sonic dumped the jewels on the table. "Just let me tell you what I have in mind…"

_**7:00…**_

"Ooh…I swear I'm going to knock his head in!" "Amy glared out her window, arms crossed, foot tapping. "Late. Why does Sonic always have to be late?"

Cream giggled, squeezing Tails' hand. "He's late for everything, you know that."

The door slammed open and a hedgehog walked in. The door slammed shut, and, already annoyed, Shadow settled himself to lean in a corner. "Faker said he was going to be late."

Tails cocked his head. "But he didn't know the time we were gonna start. I told him five o'clock."

"Knuckles probably told him."

The door slammed open again. "What'd I tell who?"

Amy turned her glare on the echidna s he closed the door only slightly quieter then he'd opened it. "Did you tell Sonic what time the party was really supposed to start?"

_Hell, I knew this was gonna come back to bite me on the ass…_ "Yeah, and he said he was going to be late. Hey," he started, defending himself against the steely glare he continued to receive from Amy, "it's not like anybody told me that the right time was a big secret from him!"

Amy sighed. "Does anybody know why he's going to be late?"

Knuckles grinned at her. "Yeah."

Everyone was silent for a second. Tired of it, Tails sighed. "Well?"

"Well what?"

Tails felt as if he were beating his head against a wall. "Tell us why!"

Knuckles meandered over to the table Amy had set up and popped a grape into his mouth. "Sonic said not to say why."

It took Shadow only a moment to figure it out. "Does it have anything to do with the things that were in his bag?"

Knuckles glanced over at Shadow, shrugging. "It might."

The hedgehog nodded, casting Amy a glance. "Is he using them for what I think he is?"

Knuckles's grin was wide. "It might be."

He nodded again. "Is he planning on doing that here?"

"Seems like."

"She's going to yell at him when he first arrives."

"Most likely."

"She'll feel like a fool once he does do that."

"Yep."

Shadow settled back, a small smile on his face. "This could be an entertaining evening after all."

Cream gave the two a confused look. "Am I the only one who's confused as to what they're talking about?"

Amy shook her head. "I wish I could say yes…"

Narrowing his eyes, Tails walked over to Knuckles. The echidna was, after all, the most likely of the two to give him information. "What's going on?" he murmured.

The Echidna shrugged, popping another grape into his mouth. "I'll tell you once it gets loud in here. Sonic would be beyond pissed if Amy overheard."

The fox opened his mouth to protest, but the door opened. A young bee in an old pilot's helmet zipped in, grinning hugely. He'd grown in height over the years and he'd lost all of his baby fat. Instead of a bumblebee, he'd turned out to be a slim sweat bee. Still as energetic as he'd been at age six, he zipped over to Cream and handed her a bouquet of flowers that seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Congratulations!"

She buried her face in them, delighted. "Thank you, Charmy."

The bee gave her a thumbs-up and zipped to the door. "Sorry to just drop by and leave, but I've got a case. Espio's with me and said to give you his congrats too. You know how he is. Vector and them'll be here in a few. Hey, Tails, congrats to you too!" Tittering, he gave a final wave and was gone.

Surprised by what Knuckles had just told him, Tails went back to Cream. Recognizing the look in his eyes, Cream looked at Amy. "Could you please put these in some water? I don't want Tails to crush them." No sooner had the flowers been transplanted into Amy's arms that Tails had his around Cream.

Smiling, Amy went onto the kitchen. As soon as she was out of earshot, Tails whispered to Cream just what Knuckles had told him during Charmy's interruption. Her eyes lit up and she kissed Tails again.

The door swung open. "Hey! Get your paws offa my daughter!"

"Vector, dear, how do you think she got pregnant?"

Another crocodile rolled his eyes and mocked a gagging sound. "So…gross!"

Cream broke the kiss and giggled, looking over her shoulder. "Oh, hush, Vipe. You got here the same way."

Wincing, he moved over to the food table. "Viper, you just got here," Vanilla scolded.

Having inherited almost none of his mother's politeness, the boy grabbed a chip. "And?"

Amy walked out of the kitchen. "It's all right, Vanilla. That's why the food's there. Just ask Knuckles."

Shrugging the echidna grabbed another handful of grapes, which, based on his hand size, was a quarter of the bowl Amy had set out.

_**8:00…**_

"What happened to, 'You'll have it by eight, Sonic'? Huh? It's eight o'-freaking-clock!"

Casting an annoyed glance at the affronted hedgehog, Oliver put the finishing touches on what Sonic had requested. "'Ere, now. You're more impatient than a child, you are."

"I know I'm impatient," Sonic mumbled, arms crossed. Oliver stood and Sonic jumped to his feet, ready to put him right back in that chair. "Where are you going?" he demanded.

"'Old your 'orses, boy. Would ya rather I 'urried an' made a mistake?"

Sighing, Sonic sat back down, jiggled his foot with irritation. "No…"

"Tha' is what I thought. Now, I'm goin' ta put it in a box, an' you can be off." Chuckling when Sonic jumped from the chair, grinning foolishly, Oliver put the piece he'd created into the box and handed it to Sonic. "An' don't you forget to take wha is lef' o' your jewels."

"Heh. You can keep 'em. See ya!"

"But…" The human sighed, not bothering to protest to the dust Sonic had left behind.

As Sonic ran, the feeling began to overtake him. He was closing in fast. His chest nearly exploding with the feeling, he zipped past Amy's house.

It disappeared and he stopped. "What the…?" Backtracking, the feeling nearly overpowered him. He stopped in front of Amy's house and the strange feeling didn't disappear. He mouth opened, than closed as his lips curved.

_Looks like I found it…_

He pushed open the door and just watched for a minute. Tails was talking to Shadow, most likely about some new invention. The black and red hedgehog always seemed to be able to follow the technical things Tails said.

Knuckles was talking to Vector, steadily working his way through a bowl of grapes. Sonic wondered fleetingly where Charmy and Espio were. Vector had a hand clapped on his son's shoulder and Viper was grinning up at both of them. He didn't have to look very far up at Knuckles. Even for his age the young croc was tall.

Cream was in a small huddle with her mother and Amy.

Amy. Huh… The pressure in his chest had subsided the second he looked at her. Looks like she's what I've been running to all this time…

Amy, shaking her head, took a small step back and gazed out the window. Searching for something, him most likely. He didn't like the way the sparkle died out of her eyes when she didn't see him.

Studying the box in his hand, he smiled, knowing exactly how to put the sparkle back. He meandered over to her, still grinning. He glanced over at Knuckles and the Echidna chuckled.

Shadow nudged Tails and nodded his head in Sonic's direction. "It's about bloody time," he muttered. "If she turns him down, I'll die laughing."

Tails chuckled lightly. "I can't imagine you laughing at anything, Shadow, so I doubt that. Besides, she's been waiting for this forever. She'd never deny him."

Sonic stopped right behind Amy. "Hey, Amy."

She spun around, letting out a gasp. "What took you so long?"

"Well, it's an interesting story."

She crossed her arms. "Oh, I'll just bet it is." Her eyes flickered with her flash temper, making him chuckle.

"Trust me; I think you'll like this. See, a few years ago I saved this guy's daughter from Eggman. He said he owed me a favor."

"And you chose today to collect on it?" She was tempted to crack him over the head with her Piko-Piko Hammer.

"Yep, but let me finish, Ames." He glanced over as Cream took her mother's arm and led her to Vector and the other two. _Looks like Amy's the only one in the dark here…Makes this easier, I guess._ "After I left this morning, I went to Angel Island because Knuckles owes me a favor too."

"Looks like everyone owes you something," she muttered, pouting slightly. The pout made him want to kiss her, but he restrained himself.

"What was he doing here this morning?" Viper mumbled. His father gave him a look that had the boy grimacing. "That's so gross, dude."

"Just a few people. Normally I get them out of debt quickly, but I couldn't think of anything to get from Knuckles, and the other guy, the one who's daughter I saved, is a jewelry maker." He grinned at her. "I'm not real interested in the whole jewelry thing, ya know?"

She said nothing and something flickered in her eyes, making him grin wider. _Starting to get it aren't you?_ he thought.

"But today I thought of something. Knuckles told me once that there's a place on Angel Island full of rubies and another full of diamonds. When I went up there I asked him to get some of both for me. It took longer than I expected because_ someone_-" he cast a glance at Knuckles, who merely shrugged "-got us lost on his own island."

Sonic looked back at Amy. "I had this plan in my head, so I took the jewels and went to that jewelry maker guy - Oliver. I described what I wanted, and he made it. It took longer than I'd planned because he made a few mistakes." He pulled out the little black box and fingered it softly. "I think he made them because I wouldn't leave him alone."

Amy's eyes filled with tears. "Sonic…"

He smiled at her. "Yeah, I think you get the picture." His smile widened. "Listen, Amy, I love you, but I'll be damned if I get down on one knee." He flipped open the box to reveal a ring. The rubies had been shaped and cut to resemble rose petals. In the center was a small, circular diamond. "So, will ya marry me?"

Weeping openly, she threw her arms around him. "Oh, Sonic!"

Grinning, Sonic leaned back to slip the ring onto her finger. "Glad you agree." She hugged him tightly against her again, weeping onto his shoulder.

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Thank God that isn't me…"

Sonic glanced at him, smiling widely. "Damn right." He gave Amy a hard kiss, amused at the smattering of applause that gesture generated. "She's mine."

_**A/N:**_

Yes! Finally done!

lol

Okay, so I haven't exactly been working on it…So sue me! I mean…uh…I love you. So…Yeah.

lol

SonAmy 4eva! And all that jazz.

lol

I think this is the best SonAmy I've done actually…Both of them seem more IC to me… (shrugs) But yeah.

Next up is the Knuxouge!

lol

Then I've got a ShadOC in store that'll really be a shocker!

Please.

Kk, til next time! BYEZ!

:3

**P.S.**

**I have terrible news everyone...**

**I can't update this for even longer than I would like because a good number of the pages I've written have been lost...**

**I swear I've been doing everything in my power to locate them, but it'll probably be quite a while...**

**I'd gotten part of it typed before the pages were lost, so I may just post half of it for now...**

**We'll see**


	3. Broken Ring

_**A/N:**_ Okay, damn. It's not finished, but I was really tired of making you guys wait. The rest will be posted ASAP, I promise

* * *

_**Broken Ring**_

Knuckles sat on the top step of the altar, the Master Emerald glowing brightly in the night behind him, thinking to himself. He couldn't believe what had happened that day…

Sonic and Amy had actually gotten married… Everyone had been there, Knuckles recalled. Well, everyone but a certain bat. But none of them had seen Rouge since nearly a month _before_ Tails had taken off…

It had been years since he had even heard about her. He supposed she could have died. Or maybe one of her jewel heists had gone wrong, and she had finally been caught. He shook his head, trying to banish thoughts of her. That was the problem with being alone on a floating island day after day… A person had a whole lot of time to just think…and think…and do some more thinking…

He jumped up to his feet, sighing. He would drown his thoughts in sweat, he thought. Then snarled to himself. Stop thinking! …God damn it…

"Great… Friggin' great… Now I'm talkin' to myself…" He stared at the sky, shaking his head, draining his mind of all thoughts, before running off a ways to shatter some boulders. Even though Eggman was gone, thieves still came up to the island. He needed to keep in shape.

_Meanwhile…_

She reached for the mat, flipped it up. Her hands trembled, her breath caught, when she saw the old key. She picked it up with trembling fingers and jabbed it into the lock. She swallowed and opened the door.

"I'm home," she murmured. "I can't believe I actually made it home…"

The bags she carried slipped from her sweaty grip, hit the floor with twin thuds. She staggered up the stairs, tears flowing, unnoticed, down her cheeks. She started shaking wildly when she went to her closet, yanked it open. Her clothes were still there, all of them… She stared around the bedroom. A queen size bed with deep purple satin sheets, plump black pillows rested at the headboard. Her dresser, perfume bottles, extra make-up, disguise wigs, everything was still there.

She walked to the dresser and sat down in front of it, studying her reflection in the mirror. Her pretty aquamarine eyes, fatigued and wet, stared back at her. The lips curved when she picked up a pair of scissors, snipped off a lock of white hair that she'd had to grow out.

She was laughing as the white tresses hit the floor behind her, laughing even as tears flowed down her cheeks. She was alive! A survivor of her toughest job. Her eyes danced with triumph. The junkies and rapists, the prostitutes and drug dealers, the alley stalkers and the murderers, hadn't beaten her. She'd finished the job, one that had killed sixteen agents before her, and had come out whole.

She swept up the hair, walked towards her fireplace, lit it and tossed the locks into the flames. She looked down at the clothes she wore, dirty, ripped jeans, a ratty black halter, and tugged them off to toss them in the fire as well.

She was herself again! No more filth. She was no longer a nameless street girl, she was once again Rouge the Bat. Not a beggar, but a treasure hunter, a _famed_ treasure hunter! She went to the adjoined bathroom to wash the street filth off of her face, to shower and wash the filth from the rest of her body.

She walked out, grinning madly, spinning gleefully. No one who had known her before the street job would have recognized her, but she knew who she was. She stretched her arms high. For the first time in years she knew who she was and could relish in the fact.

She went to her dresser, searched for a silky nightgown, giggling. Oh, she was so exhausted, yet so euphoric! She knew she had to sleep, though, and tugged the red silk over her head, relishing the feeling of silk against her body after so long.

The bed was so big after years of sleeping on cots or in alleys. With a girly squeal, she pounced on it, hugged a pillow to her. She grabbed a remote from her bedside table, exactly where she had left it. Her breath caught on a sigh. Everything was where she'd left it. The cleaning crew she had hired and paid in advance had done their job. They had cleaned, dusted, swept, mopped, and vacuumed everything in her home without moving anything.

The tears started again and she flipped on the plasma screen television. She flipped through the guide, just reading the titles, some unfamiliar that she earmarked to record on her DVR. The familiar ones she marked as well, sobbing now.

There was so much she did not know about _her_ world, she realized. She had no idea where world's most current valuables were at. She would have to find out, she decided. Flipping off the TV, she settled back and snuggled against the pillow. She had so much to do the next day...

_I should go see what Knucklehead's up to_… With that thought in her head, she drifted off into a deep, blissfully dreamless sleep.

_The Next Day…_

Cream grinned at Amy as they walked, barely able to see over the bulging bags she carried. "This was a very good idea."

Amy laughed, shifting her own bags. "Shopping is always a good idea."

The two giggled, trying to hold onto their bags. Cream glanced at a large house as they passed it, her giggles fading. "I wonder if Rouge'll ever come back…"

Amy shrugged, also looking at the old Victorian. "I dunno… You'd think she'd've come back by now. Or she should've contacted us."

"Maybe something happened to her." She sighed. "I wish we knew." A sudden movement in an upstairs window caught her eye. "Amy, did you see that?"

She had started walking again and had not been paying attention. "What?" She turned her head to study the house again.

"Someone's in there!"

"There's no way, Cream. You're just getting excited because we were just talking about Rouge coming back."

She frowned, shaking her head. "No, I don't think so." She eyed the window intently, waiting for another movement.

The pink hedgehog sighed and shifted her bags again, scanning the house. "If you're sure, let's go inside and check."

The bunny's eyes widened a bit. "But Amy," she whispered, flicking her ears up to hear if anyone was near enough to hear, "that would be breaking and entering! It's against the law!"

"Only if we're caught," she reasoned. With a smile, she bounded up the walkway and up the stairs. She set her bags down on an outdoor table and pulled out her hammer.

Cream set her bags next to Amy's, looking around nervously. "Someone'll see you break down the door, Amy. Maybe we should knock first."

"But no one's in there!"

"Amy, please?" Her brown eyes were big and pleading. She was positive someone was in there and maybe, just maybe, it was Rouge.

Amy sighed, relenting. "Okay, okay." She lifted a fist after putting away the Piko-Piko Hammer, but before she could knock, a voice sounded from above them.

"I wouldn't bother knocking if I were you."

Amy froze, blinked. She knew that voice. It was very feminine, hinting at a mysterious slyness. A grin started to form on her face that only widened when she heard Cream gasp and squeal with delight.

She tilted her head back and saw a bat sitting on a balcony railing. A smile from her reflected the voice. "Hello, Rouge!" Cream called. "When did you get back?"

"Just last night."

"Oh wow. Welcome home, Rouge." Amy chuckled and lifted her bags. "Can we come in?"

One slim brow rose. They had both changed, she noted. Under the bulging bags Cream held was a bulging belly. She was either pregnant or had gained weight. The former was much more like the Cream Rouge remembered. Amy's quills were longer and when she pushed some of them back, a glint of gold caught Rouge's eyes. _A wedding band?_ she wondered.

"The door should be unlocked," she finally said and glided into the house.

Amy gave Cream a look, turning the doorknob. "Rouge never used to leave her doors unlocked."

The bunny's eyes rolled as she walked past her friend. "Sonic used to run from you."

"'Used to?' So I'm guessing that ring on your finger really is a wedding band."

Amy looked at her left hand, her eyes softening. "Yes…"

Cream shifted her bags. "Can I set these down somewhere?"

"Yes. Follow me." Amy lifted her bags, following Rouge and Cream into the kitchen. Gratefully, Amy and Cream dumped their things onto the counter. "So what is this? Your third kid?" Rouge patted Cream's belly, ignoring the bite of envy.

Cream's eyes went bright. "No, it's only my first. Tails only got back a few months ago, after all."

"Got back?" Her brows drew together in confusion. "From…?"

"Oh! I forgot that you left before Tails did!" Cream looked around. "Is there somewhere we can sit down? Amy and I have to tell you _everything_."

Rouge led them to her living room, Cream already beginning the tale. She told Rouge all about Tails' deception and his running away and getting mixed up with three vile bears. She left out Tails' having to become a hit-man in some organization. After all, that was something even Sonic did not know of.

They were all sitting as Cream regaled all about how she had found Tails' number in Sonic's address book.

"Wait," Rouge interrupted. "If Tails ran off and had no communication with any of you for years, how did his phone number fall into Sonic's hands?"

"Oh, that's easy," Amy said. "Sonic was just running around one day and stopped in a seedy area. Just before he started off again, a fox caught his eye. Sonic followed Tails to where he was staying and, even though the number was unlisted, managed to get it."

"A few days later he asked me to look up something for him and I saw it," Cream added. "I guess Sonic was too nervous to call Tails himself after everything that had happened.

"So anyway…"

Cream continued telling Rouge about calling Tails and meeting him at his workshop. Only a few days later, those bears did something that made him choose to come back for good.

Not long after he had returned to the workshop, those bears, along with Eggman, showed up. The bears were intent on killing Tails and had somehow met up with old Eggman. None of them would ever know why because they were all dead.

"What?! Even Eggman?" Rouge stared at the two girls, incredulous. "I never expected Sonic to permanently get rid of that bastard."

"If he hadn't let Tails fire that missile, Knuckles would probably be dead. Besides, Sonic had already revived me, so he was already furious."

_Knuckles nearly died?_ Rouge's eyes darkened. _What in the world?_ "What do you mean, Sonic had revived you?"

Amy explained, taking over for Cream, that a machine Eggman had built shot electricity into her body. And each time it had, a new layer of protection had formed around Eggman's machine. All of the voltage pumped into Amy's body had killed her just before Sonic had gotten in, courtesy of Tails' missiles.

"Luckily, he managed to get me breathing again. And after nearly a month of being unconscious, I woke up to find that sleep was virtually unneeded and I'm able to run just as fast as Sonic. Or nearly so…"

"I see. But you said Knuckles was nearly killed. How?"

"Oh, that. Well, metal arms came out of Eggman's machine and were really tough to break off. At one point, Knuckles stumbled and fell. One of the arms crashed onto him, sinking into the ground."

Cream nodded. "Tails needed Eggman dead so he could take control of the machine and save him. Sonic hesitated at first, but he came around. Knuckles only had a few cracked ribs and a broken wrist, thankfully. He was up a full week before Amy, determined to get back to Angel Island."

"Sonic helped the doctors make him stay until he was fully healed, though," Amy added.

"Hmph. Good. The idiot nearly suffocates and the first thing he wants to do is guard that stupid Master Emerald…" Rouge sat back in her chair with a huff.

"So I want to see those engagement rings," she said after a moment.

Cream held out her hand, beaming. "I know it's a simple design, but-"

"It's perfect," Rouge murmured. The diamond was brilliantly cut and worth at least 175 rings. And the band itself had to be 24 karat gold, which would be another 100. "Classy," she decided.

She turned to Amy next. "I'm expecting something flamboyant from the Blue Blur," she announced. When Amy held out her hand, Rouge got just that.

"It's a rose," Amy blurted. She had had it for nearly a month and it still wowed her. "He had it made the same day he proposed."

"At mine and Tails' engagement party, no less."

"Always up for grand gestures, that one." It was a gorgeous ring, bold where Cream's was classic. The ruby petals had been delicately carved, the diamond in the center expertly cut. A freshly bloomed red rose, dewy in the middle. "Innocent freedom."

Amy studied the ring herself, beaming. "Yes, it is."

"So how long have you been married?" Rouge asked Cream.

"After Tails found out I was pregnant he didn't want to wait at all, so we married the day after the engagement party." Cream stood, rubbing her belly. "Sorry, but I have to pee."

"Right down that hall, third door on the right."

"Thank you!"

When she dashed off, Rouge looked back at Amy. "So how far along is she?"

Amy grinned. "Her due date was yesterday."

"So you and Sonic tied the knot…?"

She giggled. "Yesterday." At the amused look, Amy giggled again. "I wanted a big, splashy wedding and I got it."

"I'm sure Sonic was thrilled…"

Her eyes filled. "He was so impatient throughout all of the planning, but he told me if it made me happy, it was worth it."

"Well, well. Points for him then." Rouge's smile was sly. "So if you married him yesterday, what are you doing out of bed?"

A blush tinted her cheeks bright red. "Well, he's… um… asleep."

"Is he?"

Her nod was rapid, punctuated by giggles. "I told you I don't need much sleep. Well, he does and we didn't get _any_ last night."

Their shared laugh ended when a squeal sounded from the bathroom. After so many years on the streets, Rouge's first instinct was to fear the worst. She was at the doorway a split second before Amy.

A puddle of clear liquid covered the floor, Cream standing wide-eyed in the center of it. "I'm so sorry! I just… I swear I didn't pee on your floor!"

The hard, cold look in Rouge's eyes faded instantly. "Of course not. I'm damn sure your water just broke."

"My…" She doubled over as a wave of pain hit her. When it passed, Rouge had a cool cloth pressed against her forehead.

"Come on, Cream. The next one will hit soon enough. We should get you into my car and to the hospital."

"But Tails-"

"Amy's calling him." She was actually calling Sonic, but what did it matter? Tails would find out quick enough. "He'll be there long before this kid pops out."

"He'd better be!"

_Meanwhile…_

Knuckles almost didn't have time to slide the picture under the Master Emerald before Sonic and Shadow came to a halt in front of him. Sonic's eyes were bright with excitement and Shadow was actually smiling. It was a small smile, barely noticeable. But still. Shadow? Smiling? That meant big news! "What's going on?"

"Cream went into labor at Rouge's house," Sonic blurted. "Amy called me so I got Shadow and now you." His grin widened. "I didn't think either of you wanted to miss Tails's reaction."

_Rouge's house? Why would they have been there? Is she back?_ Knuckles scrambled to his feet. "Let's go!"

_Soon…_

The trio found the fox under the hood of a car he was planning to turn into a flying car, the sound of an electric drill whirring softly over the classical music pouring loudly from his outdated radio.

He's always had a weird taste in music, Sonic thought offhandedly and quickly turned the unidentifiable – to him – crap off. As far as the Blue Blur was concerned, the only music worthy of blaring that loudly was rock.

Abruptly, the drill switched off and Tails straightened. He'd been enjoying Chopin, so who had shut it off and why? Pushing goggles atop his head, the fox studied the intruding trio. Sonic's eyes were bright with excitement, Shadow was actually smiling, and Knuckles's grin was blinding. So, obviously, Sonic had been the one to turn the music off. But the why was going to be a bit harder.

"Uh… What's going on?" he asked warily.

Sonic strolled over, biting the inside of his cheek to stop from smiling. Taking the goggles from his pal, he tossed them onto a work bench, and pried the drill from Tails's wary hands. Slinging a companionable arm around the fox's shoulders, Sonic began leading him out of the workshop. "Let's go, Dad."

"Dad?" he echoed, confused. Knuckles snickered and Shadow's smile brightened a bit more. As his brain put two and two together, it slowly lost all function. "Cream's in labor?" he whispered.

"So I hear," Sonic told him. Tails's pupils contracted in shock just before he shot off, tails spinning madly. With a laugh, Sonic followed, Shadow and Knuckles in tow.

_Soon…_

Rouge paced the waiting room of the pediatrics ward, annoyed. "What's taking them so damn long?"

Amy laughed from her seat on the couch. "Sonic had to have gotten Shadow and Knuckles as well." She noticed Rouge's pause at Knuckles's name, but chose not to comment. It was easier to avoid a confrontation that way.

The door slammed open and both girls looked up. Tails barreled in and went directly to Amy. "Where is she?"

"Room 132A."

"132A… 132A… All right, thanks." He barreled to the door. "Hi, Rouge," he called back, a hand lifted in brief acknowledgement.

"Hello," she murmured, but her eyes were all for Knuckles.

And his were for her, had been since he had stepped into the doorway. The first thing – the only thing – he had been able to see was her. Questions reeled in his mind. _What is she doing back? When did she get back? Where has she been for so long? _And_ Why does she still look so beautiful?_

Sonic shoved Knuckles to the side, breaking the echidna's focus. "Move, will ya?" He went straight to Amy. "Did you already call Vanilla?"

"Oh!" She jumped to her feet. "I completely forgot! She'll be ecstatic at the news. I need to find a phone…" She glanced around. "Do you have yours?"

"Calm down, will you?" Taking her shoulders, grinning, Sonic shoved her back onto the couch. "I already took care of it."

"Oh, good! What did she say?"

Rouge watched, fascinated when Sonic sat next to Amy, his arm looped around her waist. When she'd left Sonic had never sat, let alone next to Amy Rose. The gold band on his ring finger glinted in the fluorescent lights, a perfect match for Amy's own ring. "She flipped out," he said.

Amy giggled, shifting to lean comfortably against him. "Did she really?"

His grin flashed. "Her scream nearly made my ear bleed."

"You've been gone for quite a while, Rouge." Tired of paying attention to the newlyweds, Shadow had walked up to the bat.

Her entire body tensed automatically, a reaction brought upon years of street life, a reaction brought on by a sudden – male – presence, and something else entirely. At Shadow's raised brow, she forced herself to relax. "I'm flattered that you would notice, Shadow," she replied, putting as much of her old sassy charm into it as possible.

"Hmph." Eyes narrowed, he caught her chin in his hand and carefully studied her. Under the carefully applied makeup were the obvious signs of exhaustion and possibly a bit of illness. "When did you return from your assignment?"

"And how would you know if it was an assignment or not?" she shot back.

Against his hand he could feel her fighting trembles and wondered. "A jewel theft may have taken up to a month. Not years."

"Interesting." She turned away, her rhythm broken momentarily when she caught sight of Knuckles once more. It was a brief lapse, but Shadow narrowed his eyes. He had always known that Rouge and Knuckles had shared obvious chemistry, but this was full-blown sexual tension. His eye began to twitch slightly. He had already dealt with two weddings, and was hoping these two would have the sense to elope.

"Where are you going, bat girl?" Rouge had tried sliding past him to leave the room, but Knuckles had found himself wrapping his hand around her arm.

Her gaze slid slowly upwards until their eyes met. "To check on Cream, of course. Are you afraid I'm going to take off again?"

His grip tightened and his eyes flashed. As a memory broke through, Rouge winced, an audible gasp of panic bursting from her. Knuckles dropped his hand immediately. "Just what sort of assignment were you on?" he murmured. Never had he seen such terror in her eyes, especially not directed towards him.

Appalled by her own reaction, she stepped away. "It's none of your business, Knucklehead!" Quicker than dignity allowed, Rouge was out the door, leaving Knuckles studying her retreating back with a mixture of speculation and worry. Rouge had returned, all right, but she carried some serious mental scars with her.

Uncaring and unaware of his thoughts, Rouge went down the hallway to a restroom. After checking every stall to be sure they were empty, she sank to the floor, drew her knees up to her chest.

"Oh, God…" She blew out a shuddering breath. It had been only a few months since that weasel… Just remembering those golden brown eyes that sent shivers down her spine even now. But when they had flashed hot… When Smear had…

"No!" Rouge squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

I can beat this… I already beat this… Why did I react that way to Knuckles? He's as strong as Smear, but that was where the similarities ended. Knuckles would never–

"Rouge?" She nearly jumped out of her skin at the quiet voice, the gentle hand on her back. "Knuckles said something was wrong with you, but I wasn't expecting something this bad."

Rouge took another steadying breath before looking at up into jade eyes. She had promised herself that what had happened on the assignment had happened to the fictional "Gem" Rouge had invented for the streets. It had nothing to do with Rouge now. She had to take another careful breath to let the thoughts sink in. "It's nothing, Amy."

The hedgehog shook her head, unconvinced. "You're crying."

"Am I?" She stood, surprised to find her legs wobbly. A glance in the mirror told her that she was indeed crying and ruining her make-up. Tugging a few paper towels from the roller, she unceremoniously wiped off all of it.

As Rouge was reapplying it all, careful to use the exact same colors, another image formed in the mirror as Amy stepped up to stand beside her. "It was a terrible assignment."

It wasn't a question, but Rouge answered anyway. "Yes, it was." With a snap, her compact was closed and was dropped down her top. "And I'm not going to talk about it."

"Then what _are_ you going to do?"

"I'm going to check on Cream and forget it. It was my last assignment as a government agent for quite a while, and it's behind me now."

Hips swinging, Rouge sauntered out with Amy frowning after her.

_Meanwhile…_

"I thought you didn't like her," Sonic teased. "And now you're suddenly worried because she flinched?"

"This is Rouge," Shadow reminded him. "She doesn't jump or back down very easily." And she'd trembled just because he'd touched her. That wasn't the Rouge he remembered, the one he'd – though he'd never admit it – had missed the past few years.

Knuckles crossed his arms. That was Rouge, all right. But why had she looked so afraid? And of him, for crying out loud.

He frowned and leaned against the wall next to the window. Not for the first time, he wondered what the hell her assignment had been. What had she done? Where had she gone?

He didn't sigh, but he took his time expelling a breath. He wanted the answers to come from her, but doubted they ever would.

_Later…_

Tails sat on the bed next to Cream, holding her hand even as she squeezed his painfully. He thought it was noble of him not to react to this ache while she was experiencing a contraction.

But Rouge could see his masked pain. "Is she breaking your hand?"

"No, I'm fine." It was said through gritted teeth.

As the contraction passed, Cream's grip loosened. "I'm sorry, Tails."

He brought her hand to his lips to gently kiss the palm. "Most women would be cursing me now, not apologizing."

"Most women are nothing like Cream." Amy sat on the rabbit's other side, caressing her swollen belly. The contractions were occurring closer and closer together. Nearly eight hours earlier, Amy and Rouge had come in to check on her. They had yet to leave.

The doctor stood, an aging cat who had given birth to seven children herself, with a smile. "It shouldn't be much longer now, ma'am. You're almost fully dilated, so after your next contraction, you'll feel the urge to start pushing."

Tails couldn't hold back the wince when Cream suddenly tightened her grip on his hand.

Amy smiled at his expression. It was so obvious that he would do anything for his wife. "So it shouldn't be much longer?" she asked the doctor.

"Well it depends if the second baby wants to take its time or not."

"Second baby?"

The doctor glanced at Rouge. "Yes. Cream's carrying twins." She studied the shocked looks from everyone in the room. "None of you knew?"

Numb, Tails shook his head. "How do you?"

"I've been doing this for more years than you've been alive, dear. I _know_."

"But you're not completely sure?"

Cream panted, grateful that the contraction was easing. She looked between Tails and the doctor to take her mind off of it. Was he upset about a second baby? She admitted that it was a surprise, but was he upset?

When she asked him, he laid his free hand atop her belly. "Of course not, Cream. Never."

She tried a smile, but something was telling her to push. The doctor recognized the signs and sat back down. "Not yet, miss. They're not quite ready to come out."

Cream could not take much more of this. "_I'm_ ready for them to come out!"

Amy was grinning when she stood. "Come on, Rouge. We're no longer needed."

Rouge studied the rabbit. Her usually compassionate, serene eyes were now snapping with determined annoyance. Rouge couldn't help but grin. "We certainly aren't."

She slid out after Amy. "Do you think the three guys are still here after all this time?"

She giggled. "Of course. Cream's about to have a baby!"

"Two of them," Rouge reminded her.

"Yes, but they boys don't know that."

"Don't know what?"

Amy's smile widened even as Rouge's faded. "It's fantastic news, Knuckles! Cream's having twins!"

The eyes that had been carefully surveying Rouge snapped to Amy, wide in surprise. "As in two kids?!"

"Yes!" she laughed. "Oh! I have to tell Sonic!" Amy shot off fast enough to nearly knock a shocked Rouge off of her feet. How had Amy gotten so fast?

A steadying hand went around her arm and she looked up at Knuckles. His violet eyes were narrowed, piercing her with a speculative stare that she was unaccustomed to getting from him. It kept her in place and unusually quiet.

Her make-up was different. Sure, it was the same color, but it wasn't the same. Knuckles might have believed that she had _just_ freshened it if it had _looked _fresher. Had she cried earlier? And why wasn't she pulling out of his grip?

"Something about that job of yours screwed you up, didn't it?"

Rouge jerked away from his hold. "I crumbled a drug and prostitute ring that's ruled over the same city for nearly a century. It was hellish! If I'm 'screwed up', it's due to years of–" She trailed off, clamping her lips shut. "Damn it," she whispered, and shoved past him.

Knuckles watched her stride away. "Years of what, Rouge?" he murmured. "Years of what?"

_Thirty minutes later…_

Sonic was on his feet, snapping his fingers and pacing. Spending nine hours in the same room was really starting to get to him. He'd been about to go for a nice long run when Amy had burst into the room and nearly knocked him over, babbling about twins.

He had never really gotten around to showing her how to stop properly. Heh. Well, he had, but he always got…distracted.

Thinking about those distractions had him grinning, slanting his eyes towards his wife. She never minded when he got sidetracked and more often than not, she would do whatever she could to worsen the distraction. His grin widened. The woman was insatiable.

"You're looking at Amy as if you'd like to take a bite out of her."

Sonic spared Shadow a glance. "Yeah, so what? I'm allowed to look at her. I married her." He looked at the band on his finger. It was a small thing, a symbol that used to represent a cage. But now… He looked back at Amy, a smile on his face. Now it meant something completely different. "So what about you?"

Ruby eyes narrowed to slits. "What about me?"

Sonic's emerald orbs rolled to the ceiling as if asking for patience. "When are you gonna get a girl? Holdin' out for Rouge?" Without letting on to it, Sonic saw Knuckles's head snap up, eyes furious.

Shadow only scoffed, his back to the angry echidna. Still, he'd seen the flash of amusement in Sonic's eyes that had been directed towards Knuckles. "Hardly," he said, wiling to be used – momentarily – to bring the bat and echidna closer together. Only because it would make Knuckles feel like a fool, of course. "She's not a woman I think about that way."

Now Sonic noted that Knuckles lowered his head as his anger turned on himself. He's ticked 'cause he was jealous… Heh_._ "Hey, Knuckles." He waited for the echidna to look up before continuing. "You sure you don't know where Rouge went?" She'd been gone for the past half-hour and he'd been the last one to talk to her.

Arms folded, Knuckles leaned back in the uncomfortable chair he sat on. "If I knew, I would have told you the first three times you asked me."

"Why the sudden worry for her?" Shadow wondered.

Sonic shrugged. "Eh, it's nothin'." He wandered over to Amy. When she had first come in, not only had she announced the number of kids Cream was having, she had also very quietly told Sonic that when she had first left she had found Rouge crying in the bathroom without even knowing she was doing so. Sonic figured that something Knuckles had said or done had triggered some sort of memory of Rouge's. He wasn't completely sure, but it had to have been something that happened on the assignment she'd been on.

No use worrying about that now, he decided, sliding an arm around his wife's waist. She'd been staring out the window for a good twenty minutes. "Have you found it yet?"

She looked over, confused. "Found what?"

"Whatever you're lookin' for out there."

"Oh…" Resting her hand on the glass, she peered outside again. "I'm partly looking for Rouge, but I also…"

"You want to get out of here and run," he finished.

Her smile was faintly embarrassed. "Yes, but I can't leave with Cream this close to giving birth."

"I know what you mean, Ames." His best friend was about to become a father, after all. It still amazed him how easily the two of them had slid back into the easy rhythm of an old friendship after Tails had been gone for so long.

A movement caught her attention. "Oh, there she is!" Amy stepped away. "I'll be back!" she announced, and bolted out.

Sonic scowled when he saw Amy stop just in front of Rouge. It was a short run, but at least she had gotten one…

Before the thought had even been completed, Amy was back, dropping a duffel bag on a chair. "Rouge went and packed an overnight bag for Cream." When Knuckles stood and moved to the door she said, "She said she'd be up in a minute."

The look he slid over his did not quite mask the fact that he was about to lie. "I'm not going to get her."

Shadow scoffed. "Good. Each time you speak to her, she leaves."

With a soft grunt, Knuckles turned away. "I've noticed…" He walked out quickly to avoid more talk. After a few seconds of self-debate, he went downstairs. He'd been stewing in guilt for the past nine hours and was tired of it. Somehow he'd made her cry and felt the need to apologize. He didn't even know what he'd done!

_Meanwhile…_

Rouge stared into the sky. A lot of thoughts were swirling in her mind and the thirty minutes she'd taken to go pack Cream an overnight bag hadn't been enough to resolve all of them. That outburst at Knuckles was currently dominating. She had very nearly told him everything, and that would have been horrible.

Well, in her opinion anyway. The psychiatrist she had seen everyday for almost a year would have been thrilled. But she didn't know much about Rouge's "relationship" with the hot-headed guardian. She probably wouldn't have understood how Rouge had been by turns attracted to and infuriated by the knucklehead. Rouge didn't even understand it.

She closed her eyes briefly. Strange, how the attraction seemed as strong and as potent as ever. Stranger still that she was afraid of that attraction. When it came to men, Rouge was always confident. There wasn't a man alive that she couldn't handle.

Or so she had thought until Smear had entered her life…

Eighteen months of Hell had been endured until, with the damned weasel's help, Rouge had gotten close enough to The Ring's leaders to tear the entire system apart. And that wasn't even counting the years she'd fought before even coming in contact with Smear.

Now they were all – bar one fox they hadn't been able to locate – in jail, waiting for the trials Rouge and several other agents would testify at. Rouge shuddered. Smear would testify as well to gain immunity for murder, rape, abuse, and a slew of other charges.

She drew the coat she had grabbed from home tighter around her, knowing that it wouldn't help ease the chill she felt.

Sighing, she turned, stifling a scream when she saw a familiar raccoon leaning against the building.

Taking his time, he flicked his cigarette to the ground, crushing it with the heel of his boot. Slowly, he straightened from the wall, tugged his hat low and flicked up the collar of his leather trench coat.

"A month out of the game and you're already losing your edge?" His voice was low, gruff from years of nicotine abuse. "That's pretty sad."

She tilted her head, cocked out a hip. "I don't expect agents to be following me after a month out of the game." Both of them were too focused on where their conversation was going to notice the figure step out of the hospital and into the shadows to eavesdrop.

"I suppose not, but get used to seeing me."

Rouge's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. "Excuse me? I don't need anyone watching me, Nocturnal N. Raccoon."

"Maybe, but you're not who I've been assigned to watch."

"If it's Sonic, I can-"

"It's not him," Nocturnal – Noc – interrupted.

Rouge ignored the voice in her head that told her exactly the raccoon was assigned to watch, praying it was wrong. "Shadow, then."

"Nope."

Panic surged through her, replaced her blood to speed up her pulse. "Knuckles or Tails?"

The panic was cleverly disguised as mild curiosity, but years of interrogating professional con masters allowed Noc to see it. Besides, he knew Rouge very well. Had trained under her.

Pity rang clearly in his eyes when he walked up to the bat. He had to tell her this friend-to-friend rather than agent-to-agent. He took hold of her hands, looked into her eyes. "Smear was transferred a block away from your house by the WPP."

Now the panic was replaced by a hysteria that was not nearly so cleverly concealed. Noc could only silently curse the government. No one had fought harder than he to keep Smear away from her, but the assignment went first. It was actually the first lesson Rouge had taught him. Her most recent lesson being that even the strongest of agents had their breaking point and it was not good to see them pushed passed it. It hadn't been good to see _her_ pushed passed it.

Rouge was shaking, fighting the urge to pull away from Noc and fly away, far and fast. She knew from Amy's quick visit that they could see her from up there and she did not want to abandon them while Cream was giving birth.

Besides that, she didn't _want_ to leave. She had forgotten just how much she liked them all. Cream's shy sweetness. Tails's sharp brain. Amy's fiery passions. Sonic's drive for freedom. Shadow's quiet determination. And Knuckles… Well, he may have annoyed her, but he had always kept her mind and reflexes sharp.

No, she did not want to leave again. It would be embarrassingly cowardly. Rouge tugged her hands free. "Thanks for telling me, Noc. I'll keep an eye out for him." She turned away to go inside.

"Rouge." He waited until she flicked a slick glance over her shoulder. "He knows your name and where you live. You're listed."

The cocky look faded into one of blank shock. "No, I'm not. I've never been listed."

"I know. You've told me that before. It's to protect you from stuff just like this." She turned back to face him and the hands he had shoved into his pockets fisted. Pure terror, unmasked, made her seem entirely too fragile. "A few months ago they had to redo the phonebook. The service you hired to keep your place clean gave them your name because you weren't around to say you wanted to remain unlisted. You need to find someplace to stay until I can get the WPP to transfer him out of here. I can't watch him 24/7 and neither can Melody."

"Melody?! Now they've got_ her_ working with you? And you left her alone with him?!" The slim tan cat was about as feminine as they came. If Rouge hadn't seen for herself just how accurate she was with the .20 mm Melody carried in her designer purse, Rouge would never believe she was agent material.

Noc's growl was low and threatening. "Smear doesn't know he's being watched."

"Yes, he does." Her laugh was dry and humorless. "Idiot was an important part of The Ring. A guy like that knows when he's being trailed."

"We've taken every precaution-"

"So did I."

There wasn't anything he could say to that, so he only looked at her.

She came back towards him, put a hand on his shoulder. "You may have been welcomed to sit at the Adult Table, but you're still a rookie at heart. I have your number, Noc. I'll tag you when I've got the address."

"Just don't make it a hotel room. He's the type who keeps in touch with his contacts." He turned but had only taken a few steps before looking back. "In some ways I am still a rookie, but I earned that spot with the Adults. Melody's disguised as a male at all times until I can replace her." And with that, he was gone.

Rouge blew out a breath. "Damn it all… Where am I going to stay?" She would normally have asked Amy, but she was _not_ about to invade newlywed territory. Cream was out due to the new arrivals. Shadow would probably let her stay with him, but they would both be a bit uncomfortable with that. And Knuckles would just laugh in her face. So it was either Shadow or she would have to rent an apartment.

Rouge rubbed her hands over her face. How was she going to explain either of those moves to everyone without revealing…anything?

She sighed. No reason to worry about it right now_, _she decided, turning.

For the second time she had to stifle a scream. The violet eyes that locked on hers were snapping with fury, but this was something she could meet head on. Smear's had always been ice cold or flashed. His eyes had never snapped.

Rouge tossed her head. "How long have you been there?" she demanded.

"Long enough," he growled. "Plenty long enough. That bastard raped you and the government isn't doing jack-shit about it. WPP. What is that? Witness Protection Program? He was part of that drug thing you mentioned earlier, I bet. Now he thinks he can get back at you, doesn't he?"

Sneering, Rouge went past him. "It doesn't matter."

His hand went around her arm, halting her. "You need a place to stay." Ignoring her attempts to pull away, he listed off the reasons why she couldn't stay with the others. They were the same ones she had already figured out. All but one. "You're staying with me."

"What?"

"Is that asshole gonna think to look for you on Angel Island? Heck no." Taking her other arm, he turned her to face him. "You're staying where I can keep an eye on you, got it?"

"Why you egotistical, chauvinistic, fool of a-"

Both her and Knuckles's heads whirled when someone cleared their throat. Vanilla was smiling even as she received dirty looks from them both. "I apologize for the interruption, but could either of you tell me where Cream's room is?"

The young crocodile beside her was bouncing foot to foot, already bored. He would have been much happier with his father and the other two Chaotix members, but all four of them, including his mother, insisted that he was still too young to join in with murder investigations. And that's just what the Chaotix were currently involved in.

But his curiosity was piked. Who was this bat and why were she and Knuckles arguing? Well, he was sure Knuckles was right about whatever it was. But the bat looked vaguely familiar… Who was she? Oh, well. It didn't matter.

"C'mon, Mom. It's cold out here."

"Oh, Vipe, just wait right inside then."

"No, I'll take you up." Rouge jerked away from Knuckles. "I was about to go anyway."

"Thank you, dear." As they walked, Vanilla chatted happily, listening to her son to make sure he said no curse words as he spoke with Knuckles. Before they walked into the waiting room, Vanilla lightly tapped a finger on Rouge's shoulder to halt her.

"I'd like to tell you that I'm very glad you've returned and you're all right. I was so very worried, especially when Tails came home before you." The pat on Rouge's cheek was not condescending, but motherly. "Thank you for relieving me of that worry, dear.

"Now which room is Cream in?"

Rouge smiled. This was something that had kept her going the past few years: The knowledge that there were people as generous and kind as Vanilla in the world. "She's in 132A."

"I thank you again. Vipe, please behave."

"Yeah, Mom. Okay." On a yawn, he shoved open the door to the waiting room and walked in, prepared to spent a boring few hours.

When Vanilla walked off, Knuckles cast a glance at Rouge. "Temporary truce?"

"Fine." Head held high, she sailed passed him.

_Soon…_

Vanilla bustled into the room, eyes bright. Amy was the first to notice her. "Well?"

"They're beautiful little girls!"

"Sounds like I made it just in time."

Vanilla spun around. "Vector, I told you to just go directly home."

Leaning against the doorjamb, Espio spoke up. "Why would he miss this?"

"Espio, what are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Charmy and I didn't want to miss this either."

"Nope!" Charmy buzzed around Vector and waved at everyone in the waiting room. "Hey, everybody!" It was his usual hyper greeting, but a little less zestful than normal. A nineteen-hour day wore on even him.

And Vanilla knew just how long they had been working. Her eyes were full of worry. "You must all be so tired."

Vector waved a hand, dismissing that. "It doesn't matter."

"But–"

A groan interrupted her. "Can we just hear about the babies already, so we can go _home_?"

Sonic chuckled at Vipe's impatience. He could certainly empathize with the kid. A figure materialized in the doorway, making Sonic grin. "Hey, Tails, is that one of them?"

Energy sizzled around the fox and his cheeks hurt from a grin he just could _not_ get rid of. In his arms was a fuzz ball with his color fur wrapped in a soft pink blanket. One long rabbit ear had escaped its confines and appeared to be as long as the baby.

"She really had twins!" Tails exclaimed.

"Two for the price of one," Knuckles mused, smiling.

"Can you believe it?!"

Amy walked up to him. "Congratulations, Tails." Her own grin was the goofy one adults suddenly donned around babies. Her arms just itched to hold the wide-eyed bundle. "So what are their names?"

"Mix 'n' Match." His own grin went foolish and self-indulgent. "This one's Match."

"Does Cream have Mix?" Rouge wondered. She had come up to stand next to Amy. The baby girl had the blue eyes they were all born with, but one of them, the right one, was a darker shade than the other. "She's going to have two different eye colors."

"You think so? Oh, yeah! Cream wanted me to come get you guys."

"Why?"

"To scold you for still being here." He propelled himself back with his tails and then shot off for Cream's room, his laughter trailing behind.

Rouge sauntered off after him with Amy at her side. "They chose such cute names!" the hedgehog gushed.

"Yes." But her mind wasn't on that. It was on the fact that they would be leaving soon. She hadn't managed to talk to Shadow privately to ask him about staying over and it was much too late to go apartment hunting. A hotel it was, but only for tonight. If she was lucky, Knuckles would have completely forgotten about her staying with him.

_Soon…_

"Now, Daddy, you should definitely be at home right now. You're dead on your feet."

Vector only grinned. "Somehow you're not the most authoritative figure at the moment, Cream."

Her giggle was soft as she shifted the tan-furred Mix into a more comfortable position. This baby had ears that were shaped like a foxes, but longer than normal. One of them was flopped forward as if it was an impossible feat to uphold them both at once. Poking out of the blanket were twin fox tails that the baby would flick almost impatiently every now and again.

"I'm not trying to be. I just think none of you should've waited so long."

"You would've been upset if any of us had left," Shadow pointed out.

"Hmm…" She looked down at Mix who gurgled as if agreeing with him. Cream looked up at the hedgehog, beaming. "Goodbye, Shadow."

The relieved sigh was barely audible. It's about damn time, he thought and, with a single nod, was gone.

"Sonic, I know you would rather have been running for ten hours instead of waiting that long. You and Amy can go now." At Amy's protest, Cream smiled. "You can hold them tomorrow."

"Oh, all right." Smiling, she took Sonic's hand and lead him out.

"See you tomorrow, Tails!" he called and the two of them bolted.

Now Cream turned her attention to Knuckles. "Thank you for leaving the Master Emerald alone for so long."

He shrugged. "I left Chaos in charge, so it wasn't a problem." He turned away. "See you."

Rouge blew out the breath she had been holding. Apparently Lady Luck was being kind. Knuckles seemed to have forgotten.

"Thank you for staying with me your first day back, Rouge."

"What else was I going to do?" She sent out a half salute and started to leave, stopping at the door to look back. "For someone with little authority, you sure can dispel a crowd."

The new mother laughed, delighted. "You can hold them, too."

"You bet I will. Bye."

"Oh, thanks for the bag!"

Smiling, she raised a hand in acknowledgement. And had to grit her teeth when she saw Knuckles waiting by the elevators for her. With a huff, she turned to the stairs, ignoring the idiot echidna when he followed.

Once they were outside, she turned. "Just _what_ do you think you're doing?!"

"I already told you that you're staying with me."

"You can't just say something and expect me to go along with it," she snapped.

"Well, I did and I do." He rocked back on his heels, thinking quickly. "What else are you going to do? Go home, alone, and pack for a night at the hotel?"

She hadn't thought of that, but it didn't faze her...visibly. "And? What's wrong with that, Knucklehead?"

His eyes narrowed. "Let's go, bat girl." She stood where she was, arms stubbornly crossed, when he walked past her. "I'll see you at your house."

"You don't even know where I live!" He started whistling as he walked, angering her even more.

But then…

"…transferred a block away," Noc had said. But which block?

Cursing under her breath she caught up to Knuckles, but didn't say a word to him. When they were a block a way, he shifted closer to her. It was a subtle move, but it put her at ease.

When he tensed a few seconds later, she found herself doing the same until she recognized the cloaked figure as Noc. She nudged Knuckles' side. "Keep walking," she murmured.

As Rouge was going passed Noc, she stumbled. The raccoon took her arm to keep her from falling. "Angel Island," she murmured, placing a hand on his chest as if apologizing.

Noc doffed his cap as if to say, "It's all right." In reality he said, "Understood."

He walked off and Knuckles and Rouge continued. "What was that?"

"A polite mishap between two strangers. Or that's what any nosy neighbor would believe."

"No one'll be awake this late," he reasoned.

Her brow lifted. "We are. Who's to say there's no insomniac on this street who just happens to glance out of his window?"

He could only shrug, unable to come up with a suitable retort. They walked the rest of the way in silence.

Knuckles absorbed everything as he went. He had had no clue where Rouge lived until she turned down a walkway. His face colored when she pulled a key ring from her top. Then she unlocked the front door and stepped in. He immediately felt dwarfed by the size of the place. Second thoughts began to plague him. His humble cabin on Angel Island would fit into this place twice-over…More.

But they faded the second he realized that she was scanning every room she went past carefully before turning on the light. And then Rouge would scan the room again before moving along with the light still burning.

Behind her his sigh was easily audible. "If you're so impatient, you may as well go. I know where Angel Island is."

"You would just go to a hotel."

She looked over her shoulder before opening her bedroom door. "No, I wouldn't."

Eyes narrowed, he shifted his weight to lean against the wall. Years of gullibility had to end sometime and he was trying to put an end to his own. The easiest way that he had found was to not believe anyone whom he didn't completely trust. Rouge was a notorious liar and a jewel thief. So.

"Just pack for tonight. We'll come back tomorrow when it's light."

'_We?'_ Annoyed, she slapped on the light. _Is he _trying _to piss me off?_ Rouge thought, and then froze. Was he really trying to anger her? She had forgotten to check the room before going into it and had, for a moment, forgotten all about Smear.

"You're trying to piss me off," she accused.

He only shrugged. "Just hurry up." Knuckles _had_ been trying to get a rise out of her, to help her forget, but now he had the uncomfortable feeling that they were being watched…

_Meanwhile…_

Golden eyes shimmered like ice from the shadows of the hallway. So Gem has famous friends… His smile was slow and vile. He knew her name was Rouge, but preferred referring to her as "Gem." His memories of Gem were much fonder than the ones of Rouge, after all.

He was looking forward to creating memories with Rouge, though. But he was smart enough not to try anything at the moment. His eyes flashed with heat once before he sank back into the shadows and left the house.

_Later…_

It could have fit into her own home twice over, but it was well-built and bordering on quaint. And it was not at all what Rouge had been expecting. When he had said "cabin" her mind had instantly gone to "shack."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. The weight of the two large suitcases he carried suggested that she had packed for a week rather than a night, but when he had said that she had called him an idiot. "Are you going inside or are you planning on staring at the place all night?" he demanded.

Her own eyes rolled. "Idiot," she muttered, and walked in, her cosmetic bag slapping against her hip with each swinging step.

When Knuckles caught himself checking out her ass, he scowled and followed, keeping his eyes trained over her head.

It was actually furnished. It was the first thing she noticed upon walking in. The ugly striped couch may have screamed, "A man bought me!" and the two chairs may have clashed with it, but it was furnished. A table sat in the center of the living room and, to her surprise, a television was on a sturdy-looking stand underneath a window. Through that window, the Master Emerald could be seen sitting at the top of the altar.

And there were books everywhere. One rested on the table and she made a bee-line for it. Fascinated, she turned it over to find a well-worn copy of Yeats. She looked over her shoulder at him. "You actually read this?"

He looked away to hide the blush coloring his cheeks. "What else am I going to do up here?" Not wanting to answer any more questions and tired of carrying her bags, he trailed off to the bedroom to dump them.

Rouge studied the shelves and shelves of books, occasionally pulling one out to see if it had actually been read. A copy of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet looked old, but she didn't believe he'd really read it until she opened it to see annotations in the margins. The print was small so as not to disturb the true text or the play's flow.

Soon she found herself going through the pages, searching for each comment, each question he had scrawled upon the pages.

She didn't look up when she heard his footsteps. "I never would have pegged you for a Shakespeare reader."

"Yeah, well…" He trailed off, shrugged. When he saw which play she held, he blushed. Before he had found that one, Macbeth had been his favorite; but since he had read this one he had riddled the pages with his thoughts, feelings. And if she was reading any of that…

"Did you build the table?"

That snapped him out of his thoughts. "What?" She glanced over, sliding Romeo and Juliet back in its slot with the intention of pulling it right back out at the first opportunity, and repeated the question. "Oh… Yeah, I did. I made just about everything in the house."

"And the couch?"

Something in her tone had his eyes narrowing. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's hideous."

"Oh…" Turning his attention on it, he shrugged. "I guess so…" He shifted uncomfortably. Jesus, this it was awkward… Sexual tension was usually something he could handle, but in this case he was pretty sure it was one-sided. His-sided.

But that was also something he had been able to handle. But if Smear had raped her – she hadn't denied nor confirmed his earlier accusation – he wasn't about to make any sort of move on that tension. Besides, he'd dealt with it long before she'd even left on her assignment. Just because it seemed stronger now…Just because he could very clearly picture himself dragging her to that ugly couch and drowning in her…

"I'll, uh, see you tomorrow."

She expelled a long breath. Tension was on her side as well, but it wasn't just sexual. She'd been so worried that he would ask questions about Smear. But… She turned away, tapped a finger lightly on a binding of The Grapes of Wrath. "Aren't you going to ask me anything about him?"

Knuckles paused, his hand on the doorknob. "What color are his eyes?"

It was the last thing she had expected. "I… Gold. They're gold."

"Okay." He didn't look back as he stepped outside. "Get some sleep, Rouge." The door closed behind him with a quiet click.

_Later…_

Rouge knew it was a dream, but it didn't stop fear from clogging her throat, nor did it stop her from whimpering in her sleep…

_The room was small and dark, smelling of stale sex and vomit. The mattress against her back was hard and had no bed frame. The wall the mattress laid against was paper thin, allowing her to hear everything behind it._

_There was humming, soft and at peace, that became whimpering the moment the door slammed open. Heavy male footsteps moved closer to the person whimpering. Something made the whimpers turn to begging, and then horrible, piercing screams. When one was cut-off, Rouge could hear a male chuckling._

_The sickeningly delighted sound was somehow worse than the screams and had Rouge curling into the fetal position, hands covering her ears._

_Suddenly she felt a hand at her back, and her throat closed, not letting the scream that burned her lungs loose. And the chuckling would not go away. It was as if that cruel laugh was inside of her head and would not leave no matter how violently she shook it._

_The hand gripped her skin and Rouge cried out in the dream as well as in real life. It hurts! Stop it!_

_She was yanked through the wall and punched in the hip hard enough to bruise. When her eyes flew open they locked on the source of the humming, the whimpers, the begging, and the screams. It was a girl, a little rabbit girl who could not have reached her twelfth birthday yet. Blood oozed from clean slices in her neck and wrists, poured from the gouges in her chest and stomach._

_The scent of her blood mixed with that of sex and vomit. Rouge turned to go back to the other room. As horrible as it had been, this was worse._

_But Rouge found herself standing in a cage, unable to go anywhere but in circles. The chuckling still had not gone away._

_Let me out! She shouted. Please let me out!_

_Hang on, Rouge!_

_Knuckles? Rouge shook her head, looking around. The voice had been so faint, but she recognized it. Knuckles!_

_The light that had been framing the dead girl's body flickered and vanished, leaving Rouge in complete darkness. Help me! She screamed, tearing at the bars until her fingers bled. Let me out!_

_The soft tinkling of keys had her stopping her panicked escape attempts. Who's there?_

_Hang on, Rouge… _

_She tried taking a step back, but the bars prevented it. This voice did not belong to Knuckles. A light flicked on and, lying next to the rabbit, was the echidna, eyes open and unseeing as blood gushed from gashes all along his body._

_Knuckles! She screamed. The lock turned and a door opened. Golden eyes, cold enough to freeze lava, suddenly filled her vision. Once more the scream was stuck in her throat. A second later the cage was gone and she could feel a knife, slick with blood, pressed against it._

_I want my alibi and my immunity… Do what I tell you and you'll live…_

_She did not want to! As his hands went to bruise her breasts and thighs, she moved into the knife._

Rouge sat straight up in bed, a hand at her throat. She could still feel the cold blade pricking her skin. As she panted, tears streaming from her eyes, she looked around to get her bearings.

Knuckles's house, she remembered. Knuckles's bedroom. I'm safe on Angel Island and Smear doesn't know I'm here.

Gingerly, she threw back the covers and stepped into her violet slippers. She knew from past experience that there would be no more sleep on this night. After putting on a silk robe that matched the slippers, she went into the bathroom to splash cold water on her face.

Satisfied that she felt calmer, Rouge belted the robe and walked out of the house. She wasn't foolish enough to think that Knuckles was dead, but she needed to check. She just really needed to.

_Meanwhile…_

He was on his back, legs hanging over the edge of the Master Emerald, counting stars. He could have named every constellation and pointed out each planet and their moons. He could even tell who found and named them all, were he inclined to do so.

But he was not, so he did not. Instead he was attempting the impossible by counting those softly twinkling lights. He was exhausted but his mind just wouldn't rest.

Through bubbles and gurgles that only he and Tikal understood, Chaos had expressed his annoyance that Rouge was staying on the island for an indefinite amount of time.

Tikal, in her compassionate way, had soothed the creature's worries while berating Knuckles for not asking permission. She had made him feel like a child, but had accepted and understood why he had made the decision to bring Rouge here.

The sound of a twig snapping had only his eyes moving. It had come from the cabin, so he figured it had to be Rouge. Glancing at the moon's position he judged it to be about 2:00 A.M. What could she be doing up?

Only an hour before he had gone to check on her and she had been sound asleep, curled up in the center of his bed. Now, as she stepped out of the weeds, he got two impressions of her. The first was that she looked impossibly beautiful. The second was that she seemed troubled by something. A nightmare seemed to be the likely cause, judging the time.

Without bothering with the altar steps, she flew up and sat in front of the Master Emerald, drawing her knees up. He was alive just as common sense had informed her, but she wanted to stay close anyway. She doubted Smear would come near here tonight. She also doubted she would sleep.

Bothered by the metaphorical cloud of despair that surrounded her, Knuckles slid off the Master Emerald and sat next to her. "Do you, uh, want to talk about it?"

Even as she shook her head "no" she spoke. "It's been a week since I've had a nightmare about it. I thought I was cured…"

To the surprise of them both, Knuckles shifted closer and slid an arm around her. "I'm not going to let him get you, Rouge."

His voice was rough and he was looking straight ahead rather than at her, but Rouge leaned against him. "That's a nice enough thought."

They sat like that a few moments, none of the usual tension they felt when close appearing at all. "You don't push," Rouge murmured, more than a little surprised.

"Why should I? I already know that this guy is really dangerous if he got to you and I hate him for touching you." He sighed, looking down at her. "Besides that, I don't want to ask anything that could hurt you."

With a sweetness neither knew she possessed, she kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Knuckles."

"Um…" There was no way for him to suppress the blush. "Sure… It–it's nothing." He cleared his throat and she just smiled, surprised to find herself feeling tired. She had never fallen asleep after a nightmare, but with Knuckles close she felt safer than she had in years. Her eyes slid closed despite efforts to keep them open, and moments later she was asleep.

Knuckles blew out a haggard breath as her breathing went deep and even. Now he had even more to think about… Damn…

_Later…_

Her eyes opened slowly. No dreams, bad or otherwise, had plagued her. She drew the blanket tighter around her and was in the middle of a yawn before realizing there was indeed a blanket around her and her back was still against the Master Emerald. She sighed, silently thanking Knuckles. Her ears perked when she heard a grunt and a muffled curse.

Quickly, she scrambled up and saw Knuckles twist someone's wrist until a object fell from his hand. With a kick the object was away as the two of them grappled.

Rouge's breath caught when she saw the blade of a knife glinting dully in the moonlight. Her earlier nightmare rushed up, tightening her gut, stealing her breath.

"Idiot kid," she heard. She looked up to see the stranger running off and Knuckles shaking his head. "Now where did that damn knife go?"

"It's there," she managed, pointing.

He looked up then followed her gesture until he saw the blade. "Yeah, thanks." Knuckles stepped on the blade's end sharp enough to have the knife flinging into the air. Snagging it at the handle, he went over to a large boulder and shoved it out of the way to reveal a hole in the ground full of enough knives and guns to supply a small army.

After tossing this new knife in, he shoved the boulder back in place, grumbling under his breath. He had almost been asleep when that kid had shown up. As gently as possible he had moved Rouge to the opposite side of the Master Emerald, hoping he wouldn't wake her. Obviously, that hadn't worked.

He started up the stairs, still annoyed. "Sorry I woke you."

She shook her head, no signs of her earlier near-panic showing. "It's all right. You look exhausted, though."

Yawning, he slid on top of the Master Emerald. "I haven't slept since a couple hours _before_ Sonic showed up and told me about Cream. So don't go thinking that kid wore me out."

She smiled slyly and looked very much like the Rouge he remembered. "If you say so."

He closed one eye, hoping it would help him not see how tempting she looked. Her robe had unbelted and went unnoticed by the wearer. It revealed a column of black silk that ended mid-thigh and clung to every luscious curve. And if she was wearing a bra he'd eat his own foot.

As his other eye drooped, she shook her head. "Go to sleep, Knucklehead. I'll let you know if another idiot kid shows up."

"Yeah?"

Rouge slid a hand over his eyes, closing them. "Yeah."

"Thanks… Hey, Rouge?"

"Hmm?" His words were starting to slur together. She didn't really expect him to get out a full sentence.

"You're really beautiful…"

Her lips parted in surprise. That had been the last thing she had expected, but when she would have responded, he was already sleeping. When she rested a hand on her hip she noticed her robe was open. Though it was pointless, she tied it together. Knuckles hadn't even told her, the pervert.

Half-heartedly, she considered waking him up to berate him for not saying anything, but sat on the top step in front of the Master Emerald instead. If she were honest with herself, she knew she wasn't upset with Knuckles at all. She knew very well that "upset" was the last emotion she felt when it came to him.

_The Next Day…_

When Knuckles's eyes finally opened the sun was high in the sky. He sat straight up quickly, eyes on the sun's position. One o'clock?! I never sleep this long!

"I knew I had good timing."

He looked down, eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Rouge rolled her eyes, once again opting to use her wings rather than the stairs. "You were tired, so I didn't bother. Besides, if you weren't awake when I got back I was going to get you up. Here."

He stared blankly at the plate in his hand and the sandwich on it. "I didn't know I had any bread…"

Her brow lifted. "How do you not know what's in your own kitchen?"

"Amy brings stuff up here all the time. I usually don't pay attention to what she's got with her." It amused him that she had cut the sandwich in half for him. It amused him even more when she swiped the half he didn't take.

All amusement died with her next statement. "I'm dragging you to the store later."

As there was food in his mouth he didn't groan, but his eyes rolled skyward as if asking, "Why me?" When he swallowed, he asked, "Why do I have to go?" and then instantly regretted it when her eyes shadowed. "I'm sorry, Rouge."

"Mmm…" She took a thoughtful bite, thinking over a change of subject. "Last night you called me beautiful." Her eyes flicked up to meet his. "Did you mean that?"

When his cheeks blended in with his fur she had her answer. With a smile she tugged the plate from his limp hand and glided down. "Amy expects us at Cream and Tails's home in an hour. Do you think we can get to my place and back in that time?"

He nodded numbly. He'd thought he'd been dreaming when he'd complimented her.

Frowning, he stood. "Yeah, if you don't take forever to pack."

_Thirty Minutes Later…_

He was sputtering, staring at the mountain of suitcases. "What did you do? Pack everything you own?"

"No, of course not. Now hurry up. We only have half an hour."

"It'll take at least _six_ hours to get all this crap up to Angel Island!"

"It's not crap!" Rouge argued, slinging a single bag over her shoulder. It was all she intended to carry. "Come on, Knucklehead."

He had no idea how he did it, but the last suitcase was in the bedroom with minutes to spare. "Did you have bricks in some of these things?" When she didn't reply, he flicked a case open at random. Inside were – God help him – bricks. As her laugh flitted through the air, his eye twitched.

"If you tell anyone about this, I swear I'll…"

"You'll what?"

He glared at her. "It'll be a surprise. Now let's go."

"We still have another hour before we have to be there, so what's the rush?"

"Another… What?!"

His closet was rapidly being filled with her clothes. "I just wanted to see if you could do it."

If the slightest of breeze had come along, it would have knocked Knuckles to the ground. Then he started to laugh. "You're out of your mind."

She twirled around, feigning insult. "I most certainly am not!"

"Ha!" He walked up to her. "Yeah, you are." Completely unaware of his actions, he took a hold of her hips, pressed her close and kissed her.

A bomb went off in her head. The hands that had come up to his chest in reflex curled into his fur as the bones in her legs dissolved from the knee down. His lips were warm and softer than she had been expecting. His hands were light at her waist so that she could have stepped back. She leaned forward, nipping his bottom lip.

He slid a hand up her back, bringing her closer. _Finally…_ The word rang through his head like a bell as his tongue slid over hers. He had wondered, perhaps too often, what kissing her would be like. This was almost too much to take without guiding her to the bed or dragging her to the floor. As her hands slid up to grip his shoulders, he remembered Smear and changed the angle of the kiss, deepening it carefully as he gentled his hold.

She felt the change, was staggered by it. A moment before he had taken everything she had and now he was giving everything he had. Tears sprang into her closed eyes as she tasted the comfort and the promise. She had been sure that he was going to take her to bed without a thought, but there was patience here that she hadn't thought she'd needed.

His name escaped her lips when his mouth deserted hers to trail over her face, brush her eyelids. When his brow rested against hers, she opened her eyes. "I wasn't going to kiss you," he murmured. "And now I'd like nothing more than to do it again."

* * *

Review if you want

I'm done with making you guys review just so I'll post

That was a retarded and, ultimately, selfish idea on my part


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